


Old Friends

by HannahWinchester8



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Attempted Sexual Assault, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 39,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22655095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahWinchester8/pseuds/HannahWinchester8
Summary: You and Colby were the best of friends as kids. However, you were forced by your parents to distance yourself from him when he and Sam started getting in trouble for their Vine videos. Eventually growing apart as you attended a different high school as him.What will happen when you run into Colby when he returns to Kansas on tour with his new LA friend group?
Relationships: Colby Brock/Original Female Character(s), Colby Brock/You, Sam Golbach/Katrina Stuart, Tarayummy/Jake Webber (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 35





	1. New beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to add that I'm not super happy with the writing in this story as a lot of it is dialogue, but I'm looking to eventually re-write it once it's completed.
> 
> Also, it is a little slow in the beginning, so just bare with it as it will get more interesting. I've already written 8 chapters but I don't want to post them all at once.

You sighed as you watched the rain drizzling down the window, grimacing inwardly as you remembered that you had left your coat and umbrella in your car. Glancing up to the clock on the wall, groaning as you realised you still had two and half hours until you got off work.

“Y/N?” Turning to face your manager, Greg. “Some of the shelves need re-stocking.” He said.

“Right, on it.” You replied as you stood from your stool, kind of glad that you had something to do to kill some time.

You wandered up and down the aisles, making mental notes of what stock you needed to collect from the back. You heard the bell above the door jingle, and Greg greeting who you presumed to be customers. You continued up the furthest aisle towards the back of the store, only to bump into someone as you turned the corner.

Stumbling back, blurting out “shit.. I’m so sorry!”.

You heard a slight chuckle, which cut off almost immediately.

“Wait.. Y/N?” You looked up at the sound of your name, taking in blue hair, but noticing the blue eyes almost immediately.

“Colby?” You asked anyway.

“Yeah! Hey, how have you been?” You were engulfed in a hug as he wrapped his arms around your shoulders and pulled you in. You were shocked about the fact that his hugs were still so familiar even though you hadn’t seen him in almost ten years.

“Good!” You replied as you hugged him back, “what about you? What are you doing in Kansas?” You asked.

“Me and Sam are on tour with a few friends.” He said as he pulled back from the hug, dropping his arms to his side. You took in Colby’s appearance, his ripped jeans and tank top, his blue hair, his nose and ear piercings. He looked so different from when you last saw him.

“Oh cool! How’s-“

“Hey Colby!” You were cut off as two people came up from behind Colby, a blonde guy and a girl with blue hair. They stopped at Colby’s side as they realised their friend was talking to someone. You recognised the blonde guy as Sam.

“Sam, you remember Y/N, right?” Colby asked his best friend.

“Yeah, of course!” Sam replied, “How you doing?” He asked as he focused on you.

“I’m alright thanks, you?”

“Yeah, good thanks.” There was a brief awkward silence before Colby spoke again.

“Y/N, this is Katrina, Sam’s girlfriend.” He said as he pointed to the blue haired girl next to Sam. “Kat, this is Y/N.”

“Hi, nice to meet you!” Katrina said with a smile.

“And you!” You replied.

“Colby, we need to go, man.” Sam then said.

“Oh yeah, sorry. Let me just grab some snacks.” Colby said to his friend.

“Alright, we’ll go pay and wait in the car. Y/N, it was good to see you!” Sam stepped forward and gave you a quick hug.

“Yeah, you too Sam!” Sam pulled away, and left with Kat, who waved bye to you.

“Hey, where are the chips?” You turned to Colby, it took you a moment to realise he had asked you a question.

“Oh.. Uh.. This way.” You led him through the store to where the chips were.

“You need anything else?” You asked him as you watched him browse the shelves.

“No, that’s it. I think. Thanks.” He replied, as he grabbed a few bags of Doritos.

“Okay.. Listen, I should get back to work. It was nice to see you again Colby.”

“Yeah, you too!” He replied.

You turned to leave, when he grabbed your arm. “Hey.. Um.. Y/N? Are you doing anything tomorrow?”

“No, I don’t think so, why?”

“Do you want to go for lunch or something? I’d love to catch up!” You wanted to say no, knowing that you’d be tired after your shift at the bar tonight, but you noticed the hopeful look on his face, and you couldn’t say no.

“Sure, why not!” You couldn’t help but smile as Colby grinned.

“Here, do you want to take my number?” You asked.

“Yeah, sure!” He replied as he pulled out his phone. You rattled off the number to him.

“Okay, I should get going, Sam will be going crazy, but I’ll text you later tonight.”

“I might not text back until late because I’ll be at work.”

“That’s okay, I’ll most likely be up anyway.” You followed him to the counter, joining Greg by the cash register. You watch as he paid for his snacks and went to leave.

“See you tomorrow!” He said to you with a smile as he passed by.

“See ya!” You smiled back.

You heard someone clear their throat next to you, and you turned to see Greg glaring down at you.

“You know I don’t pay you to flirt with my customers, right?” He said jokingly, his glare quickly turning to a grin.

“I wasn’t flirting, he’s just an old friend.” You said defensively.

“Yeah, sure..” He replied, sarcasm clear in his voice.

“Hush you!”

“As soon as you get back to work!” You groaned, and left the counter. As you were walking to the storeroom, you couldn’t help but smile at the thought of meeting with Colby the next day.

________________________

_Later that night…_

You couldn’t wait for your shift to end so you could check your phone, you had been checking it every 5 minutes after you had left the store earlier today. It was currently 12am, and the customers were slowly being forced out by William, the bar owner. You were hoping that tonight would be one of those nights where William didn’t ask you to help clean. You waited impatiently as the bar was being cleared out, pretending to be busy by wiping down the bar top.

Ten minutes later you let out a relieved sigh as you watched William lock the front door. You tried not to stare at him expectantly, so instead you focused on the glass you were cleaning.

“Y/N.” William called your name, and you looked up to meet his gaze across the bar. “Get outta here, I’ll finish up!”

“Thank you!” You exclaimed, hastily putting the glass back on the drying rack, and racing out the back to where you kept your bag and coat. “See you next week!” You shouted back to William as you wrestled your arms into your coat’s sleeves, and pulled out your phone from your pocket.

_1 Unread Message._ You saw the notification on your phone and whooped inwardly as you unlocked your phone and pulled up your texts.

_Hey it’s Colby! Still on for tomorrow?_ J The message read. You began typing your reply as you pushed open the back door of the bar.

_Yeah, of course! Not too early though, just got off work! :(_ You stopped briefly at your car door to finish your reply.

You smiled when you saw the three dots which meant Colby was texting back.

_That sucks ass! D: Is 12-1pm okay? I can pick you up from somewhere._

_Tell me about it! 12 is fine. :)_ _Pick me up from mine?_

_You still live on Houston?_

_Yeah!_

_Number 11!_ You added, in case he didn’t remember.

_I remember! :)_

_Great, see you then! x_

_See you tomorrow <3_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader speaks to her mother about Colby, and meets with him.

It was the sound of your alarm that woke you, and you reached across your bed for your phone. Squinting as your eyes adjusted to the light as your screen lit up, you groaned as you noticed the time, 10:30. Dropping your phone to the bed as you turned to lay flat on your back. You stared at your ceiling for a moment, wanting to roll back over and go back to sleep. You hadn’t got back home until nearly 1 last night, and had opted to have a shower before going to bed to save time that morning, so hadn’t fallen asleep until gone 2am.

Your phone dinged, and your hand searched through your sheets, your stomach dropped at the thought of it being Colby texting to cancel your plans.

_Hey! Hope I don’t wake you! Can’t wait to see you today!_ You smiled, apparently Colby was still the sweet guy you knew from when you were kids. You often regret that you had listened to your parents and cut off contact with your once closest friend.

Colby’s message definitely gave you the motivation to push your bed sheets off you and climb out of bed.

_Hi! No worries, I’ve just woken up! I can’t wait either. Anything specific you want to do today?_ You typed out your reply. You threw on a hoodie and stepped out your room onto the landing.

Your phone dinged again as you reached the bottom of the stairs and started towards the kitchen.

_I’ll let you decide! I don’t really know Kansas anymore. Where’s good to eat at?_

_Okay, I’ll think of something :) See you soon._ You text back.

_Sweet! Yeah, see you soon._ He replied back.

You slipped you phone into the pocket on your hoodie as you entered the kitchen, noticing your mom sitting at the breakfast table.

“Morning, Mama!” You exclaimed happily, moving over to where the cereal was kept.

“Morning sweetie! You seem happy this morning.”

“Yeah, I’m excited to be off work for a week now.”

“Any plans for today?”

“Yeah..” You answered hesitantly as you poured out some cereal into a bowl. You and your parents hadn’t spoken about Colby for a few years now, and you wondered only now about what they would think about you hanging out with him.

“Mom, you remember Colby, right?” You asked slowly.

“Colby… Brock? Yeah, why?”

“Well, I saw him yesterday. He’s back in Kansas on tour or something.” You paused briefly. “He asked if I wanted to go to lunch or something today.”

“Y/N, I don’t know if…”

“Mom, it’s just to catch up. I haven’t seen him in ages, and besides… I doubt he’s still getting in trouble making stupid videos anyway.”

She stared at you for a moment, before saying “okay.”

“Okay? That’s it?” You questioned.

“Yes Y/N. You’re old enough to make your own decisions, but you were just out with friends if your father asks, okay?”

You laughed “thanks, mama.”

You sat down opposite your mom and began eating your cereal. “What time are you working today?” You asked her.

“I’ll be leaving in a few minutes.” She replied. “Your sister’s at soccer practice, so please remember to lock the house up if she’s not back.”

“I will, mom.”

Your mom got up and went to the sink to wash her mug, “okay, I’m going to go now! Have fun with Colby.” She came over and gave you a quick kiss on your cheek.

“Bye mama!”

You began to think about where you should take Colby today. _Maybe we should get pizza or something and then hang out in town?_ You asked yourself. _I hope that’s not too boring for him now that he lives in LA._

You then came to the realisation that you didn’t even know what Colby did in LA _will he be offended that I don’t know what he does?_ You asked yourself. You remembered that someone had mentioned to you some time ago that Sam and Colby were on YouTube.

You pulled out your phone, intending on looking up his videos on YouTube, but you noticed that it was almost 11 o’clock. _I need to start getting ready soon._

Finishing off your cereal, you washed your bowl before returning upstairs to start getting ready.

**_1 hour later…_ **

You double-checked your phone again as you were tidying your room whilst waiting for Colby to arrive. Your phone dinged as you finished putting your make-up away in its bag. It was a text from Colby.

_Hey, I’m outside! :)_ It read.

_I’ll be right out!_ Quickly grabbing your bag and house keys, you dashed out your room and down the stairs. Opening the front door, you saw Colby waiting in a car at the end of your drive. He saw you and waved at you, you waved back before turning to lock the front door.

You walked down your drive and opened the passenger side door.

“Hey Colby!” You said as you got into the car and buckled yourself in.

“Hey! How are you?” He asked.

“A little tired, but good thanks. What about you?” You looked up at him as you finished with your seat belt.

“Yeah, I’m great thanks! How was work last night?”

“Okay, two assholes started fighting, but that’s pretty normal for a Friday night at that place.”

Colby stared at you blankly for a moment “you often have people starting fights in a grocery store?” He asked, looking confused.

“What? No, I do two shifts a week in a bar downtown.” You explained.

“Oh.” He laughed, and you were caught off guard for a moment by his beautiful smile. “Makes sense!” You laughed with him.

“So, what did you want to do today?” He then asked.

“Well I was thinking we could go get food at some point, I know a good pizza place. Other than that I’m not sure! The city’s not really changed much since you left, still as boring as ever!”

“Okay, I’m down for pizza.” He said, before going silent for a moment and looked out the window. He seemed to be deep in thought, but after a few seconds he looked at you again.

“Hey, why don’t we go up to that park that we always used to go to when we were younger?”

“You remember that?” You asked him.

“Yeah! We used to spend all our summer breaks out there exploring.” You smiled at the memories of the two of you running through the woods playing hide and seek.

“You remember that den we built out of branches?”

“Oh yeah! Then we realised the leaves we used were poison ivy!” You both burst out laughing at the uncomfortable memory.

“Thanks for not noticing until after we sat on them for a while, Mr Boy Scout!” You said jokingly.

“You’ve still not let that go, huh? It’s been what – 12 years?” Colby groaned, before laughing again.

“So, what do you want to do first, the park or pizza?” He then asked.

“Let’s do food first.” You replied.

“Okay.” He said as he started the car. “Here.” He picked up his phone and unlocked it, before passing it to you. “You pick the music!”

You opened Spotify, and saw Panic! At The Disco on his recently played list.

“Panic!?” You asked him.

“Hell yeah!” He smiled, so you pressed play. You laughed as he immediately started singing along, but soon found yourself singing along as well.


	3. Old Connections Re-kindled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader and Colby get lunch.

You and Colby spent the majority of the drive into town listening and singing along to music.

You were surprised how quickly you felt comfortable around Colby, how easy it was to fall back into the close friendship that you once had with him.

“Where should we park?” Colby asked you as he reached across to turn the music down a little so he could hear you.

“It might be best to park down here and walk up to the pizza place, it’s only like 2 streets away from here.” You suggested.

“Alright, sounds good!” Colby replied as he pulled into the next available place.

You both hoped out of the car, and started walking down to the street.

“So when was the last time you were in Kansas?” You asked him.

“Uhh… Me, Sam and another friend of ours were here last month, but that was just for filming really so we only spent a few days here.”

“What were you filming for? Sorry, I don’t actually know what you and Sam do now.” You added nervously.

“Nah, that’s okay!” Colby reassured you with a smile. “Sam and I are YouTubers, we’ve started doing paranormal videos on our duo channel this year, but we also do random videos on our own channels.” He explained.

“Oh cool! So you believe in the paranormal then I take it?”

“Honestly we were pretty sceptical in the beginning, but recently we’ve had some pretty weird experiences… And now I think we’re haunted!” He said with a laugh.

“Dude! You’ve got to take that shit seriously, you don’t want demons attached to you!” You exclaimed only half serious, which made Colby laugh even more.

“It’s okay, I think we sorted it.” He said “that’s why we came to Kansas last month. You remember that old abandoned factory that I used to go to with Sam and my brother when we were kids? I don’t know if I ever told you about it.”

“Yeah, I came with you once! But then my parents found out and threatened to ground me if I ever went again!” You explained with a groan. “Why, what about it?” You asked.

“We figured out that was the start of it all, Sam had even taken a locked box from there ages ago and forgot about it! We think a spirit was attached to it. Anyway, we went back out there with Nate and did a cleansing ritual.”

“Really? Do you think it worked?”

“I think so, before that I had this… heavy feeling all the time, which has gone now! But I don’t know… maybe it was more of a peace of mind thing.” He replied honestly. You realised that you had reached the pizza place.

“Ah, here we are!” You said as pushed open the door, holding it for Colby. You chose a table towards the back of the restaurant.

“Is here okay?” You asked Colby.

“Yeah!” He replied as he sat down and pulled the menus from their holder, passing one to you.

You thanked him. “So where’s the creepiest place you’ve been for your videos?”

“Hmm.. It depends, paranormal wise it’s The Stanley Hotel. We used to explore abandoned places before we got into the paranormal, so overall those places were more terrifying.”

“Oh cool! What made you change?”

“Ah…” Colby laughed nervously. “Well most of those videos meant that we had to sneak into places trespassing basically. We were finally caught at the beginning of this year…”

“No way! You were arrested?”

“Yeah… I mean it was going to happen eventually. It was kind of a good thing though because it forced me and Sam to change, and now we’re making content that we’ve wanted to for a long time.”

“But with the paranormal stuff, now that you’ve done that ritual thing, are you going to carry on with it?”

“Yeah! We’re planning on going to England soon, actually. At least we know that we’ve got the ritual to fall back on if something gets attached to us again.”

You were interrupted as a waiter came over to take your order.

“You want to share a pizza?” You asked Colby.

“Yeah sure, you choose what you want on it.”

“Pepperoni?” You double-checked with him anyway.

“Sounds good!” He smiled, as he bought up his left hand to fix his hair, you noticed a tattoo on his hand.

“What’s that tattoo off?” You asked as soon as the waiter left the table.

“Oh.. it’s just a bird.” He said as he showed you the tattoo.

“Have you got any others?”

“A few, I’ve got a crown on my wrist..” He pulled up the sleeve of his jumper.

“Kingdom Hearts?” You asked as you recognised the crown “you used to be obsessed with that game!” you smiled at the fond memory of the hours you and Colby spent playing the game as kids.

Hey! You were too!” Colby laughed. “I’ve also got a wilted sunflower, wolf and moon on my arms, and then an ‘x’ on my back, and another on my chest.”

“What’s the ‘x’ for?”

“It’s mine and Sam’s brand, it stands for explorer.”

“That’s cool!”

“What about you? You got any tattoos?” He asked you.

“No, not yet anyway! If I were to get a tattoo, it has to actually mean something, y’know?”

“Yeah, I get that!” He grinned, nodding his head understandingly.

“So, tell me about yourself? How’s life been going?” Colby asked. You were interrupted again as your food arrived at your table.

You told Colby about yourself as you both ate your food. You spoke about your sister, who was only a toddler the last time Colby saw her, and about how you were working two jobs to save money to go travelling. Colby in turn told you about the trips he had been on with his friends. You both giggled as he told you funny stories about what happened on those trips.

“Aw man, I’ll have to introduce you to Corey.” Colby said, tears in his eyes from laughing so much. “He’s so funny!”

“Did he come to Kansas with you guys?” You asked, he replied yes and then told you about his other friends that had come with him – Katrina, Jake, Tara, Kevin, Mike, Reggie and Aryia.

“Hey, we’re planning on doing something tomorrow if you want to join?” Colby said.

“Are you sure?” You asked hesitantly, his friend group seemed pretty close-knit and you didn’t want to impose yourself on them.

“Yeah! They’re all pretty chill, they won’t mind! Plus we need some ideas on what to do!” Colby assured you.

You thought to yourself for a moment “how about we head out to Hillsdale Lake? We could have a barbeque and a few beers?”

“That’s sounds amazing actually…” Colby replied “I’ll have to check with the guys, but I’m sure they’d be down. It’ll be nice to chill like that after the show tonight.”

“Show…?” You asked confused.

“Oh yeah, sorry! We’re meeting a few fans tonight, Kat, Aryia and Mike are performing some of their songs! The rest of us will then do a Q&A or something like that.”

“Ah, okay!” You replied, before asking him more questions about the show and what it entailed.

“You finished? Ready to head out?” He asked you as you pushed away your plate.

“Yeah, I’m ready if you are?” He nodded, and you pulled out your purse to pay for half the bill.

“No, I’ll get it!” Colby said as he stood.

“Colby-“

“Please let me get this.” He interrupted almost pleadingly.

You sighed, before saying “okay, thanks Colby!” You smiled at him and watched him as he went to the counter to pay as you collected your bag.

_He’s still that kind soul you once adored with all your heart._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you guys think of this as I'm not sure it's worth posting! :/


	4. Clearing the Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader and Colby clear up some past assumptions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm bombarding you with chapters (last one for now I swear! :D), but I have eight chapters posted on Wattpad already, so I just thought I'd put some of them up today!

“Woah…” Colby stopped as you both reached the top of the hill that you had trekked up. “I never realised the view was so beautiful up here.” You looked out across the city, and _yeah, it was pretty amazing._

“When’s the last time you came up here?” You asked him.

He thought for a moment “I’m not sure, not since we were last here, I don’t think.” He turned to look at you “What about you?”

“A few years at least. My ex and I used to spend a lot of time up here...” You shifted uncomfortably “I haven’t come out here since we ended it.”

Colby’s gaze turned sympathetic “why didn’t you say anything? We didn’t have to come here if you didn’t want to.”

“No, no, it’s okay.” You assured him “this park was our place way before he came along.” You smiled, before continuing “and besides, I’m over him.”

“You sure?” His eyes searched yours.

“Yeah, I’m good!”

“Well then, here!” He said as he pulled out a blanket from his bag and laid it on the ground. You laughed fondly as he sat down. He looked up, confused.

“What?” He asked as he soothed out the blanket.

“Forever the boy scout, huh Colbs? Always come prepared!” You joked as you sat next to him, pausing slightly as you realised your old nickname for him rolled off your tongue like you only spoke it yesterday.

“Well one of us has to be.” He retorted.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You questioned, pretending to act angry.

“Come on, you were the least organised person I knew when we were younger.” He joked.

“Was not!” You scoffed, although still smiling.

“Were too!” He whined back “you used to lose _everything_!” He emphasised the ‘everything’.

“I did not!” With that, you grabbed as handful of sticks and leaves from the ground to your side and threw it at him, bursting out into laughter as some of it hit his face, surprising him.

“Hey!” He shrieked, which caused you to laugh even more. He picked off some of the leaves, gathering them into his hand. A smirk came across his face and you knew his intentions.

“No! Don’t!” You shouted as you jumped up, the sticks hitting your back as you turned around to face him.

“What? It’s only fair!” He said back whilst laughing.

You caught him off guard as you bent and grabbed another handful of foliage and dirt, raising your hand to throw it at him again.

“Oh no you don’t!” You screamed as he charged at you, you turned and ran. You didn’t make it far before he caught you around your waist.

“Colby!” You giggled as he picked you up and swung you around. You heard him giggling as well as he set you back on your feet. You turned around to face him, noticing that you were very much in each other’s space. You looked up at him, and he grinned back at you briefly before a weird expression came across his face. You glanced away

You weren’t really sure what came over you, but you moved closer, feeling Colby do the same until your bodies were almost touching chest to chest.

You looked back up at him, focusing on his lips for a moment before you both seemed to come to your senses.

Quickly moving away from each other, you heard as he cleared his throat as an awkward silence fell over the two of you.

_Fuck… Was I about to… Were we about to kiss?_

It took a few seconds to pull yourself back together. Your eyes found Colby, who was staring at the ground.

“So…” _that almost happened_ you thought as you tried to find something to say. Colby meet your gaze, he looked uncertain.

“Tell me more about your friends.” You said, _and yeah, that was stupid._

It seemed to work though. “Uhhh… Shall we sit?” Colby asked as he shifted from foot to foot. You nodded, and you moved towards the blanket.

There was more of a distance between you both now, you realised as Colby flopped down next to you.

“Well Sam… Sam uhh..” Colby hesitantly launched into a story of how he used to live in a mansion with a few of his friends.

“You and Sam are still pretty close then.” You commented when Colby paused for a moment. “You talk about him a lot.” You added.

“Yeah… I mean… He’s my best friend.” Colby replied with a soft smile.

Then he went stiff “listen… There’s something… I always wanted to ask you… Or say to you, I guess…” He stopped.

“What’s that?” You questioned, frowning as Colby looked at you, almost _guiltily?_

“I’m sorry if I ever made it feel like I ditched you for him, Sam, I mean.”

“What?” It caught you off guard, because in all the years that you knew Colby, did you ever once think that. “Why would you think that?” You asked him.

“Well, because I kinda did! We were so close, and I know I didn’t hang out with you as much after I met Sam, especially when we started the Vine stuff.” He paused, before continuing “I’m sorry that I didn’t even really realise. I used to think that we just grew apart, y’know? At first I was kind of sad that you just suddenly stopped speaking to me, but then I started thinking about it, after I moved to LA, and I realised that you probably thought that I ditched you.” He explained.

It left you stunned, because _was that what he really thought happened?_ And what was worse was that he still felt bad about it even to this day.

“Colby…” You breathed out his name. “Colbs, that wasn’t what happened!” You tried to assure him.

“Wasn’t it? Then _why_ did you stop talking to me?” He asked.

“It was my parents, man…” You huffed out, because apparently this still upset you even now, almost ten years later. You remembered the arguments, the long conversations where you had tried to convince them that he wasn’t a bad kid.

“Your parents?” Colby looked confused.

“Yeah. When you and Sam started getting in trouble for that stupid shit you used to do, they didn’t approve. They told me to cut ties with you, basically.”

“Shit.. That’s…” Colby stopped, probably before he said something about your parents.

“Yeah... I should’ve explained that to you, ages ago, but I was heartbroken.”

“Heartbroken?”

“You were my only friend, Colby.” You said simply, and he nodded his head in understanding.

“Do your parents know that you’re with me now?”

“My mom does, she was okay with it. She said not to tell my dad though…”

“I’ll have to remember not to tell mom about the whole you being arrested thing though.” You joked.

Colby laughed too.

You two spent another two hours talking, the awkwardness long gone.

You wanted to spend more time in Colby’s company, but then he checked his watch and realised that he needed to get back for his show.

He drove you home.

“I’ll text you in the morning to let you know the plan. I’ll mention the lake to the guys.” Colby said as he pulled up outside your house.

“Okay. I’ll hopefully see you tomorrow then!” You smiled.

“Oh for sure, I want to hang out even if we don’t end up going to the lake.” Colby reached across the car with one arm and gave you a hug. You bought up an arm to squeeze him tightly.

You exited the car and walked up your drive, stopping at the front door to wave back at Colby, who was waiting to see that you got in okay.


	5. Day at the lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader spends the day with Colby and his friend group.

You woke to the sound of your phone ringing, and you quickly glanced at your clock before picking up your phone. You rubbed at your eyes as you looked at your phone screen, noticing it was Colby calling.

“Hey Colby!” You said sleepily as you answered the call.

“Hey Y/N! Sorry if I woke you… Again!” He replied with a laugh.

“It’s okay, I should get up soon anyway.”

“Well, my friends want to go to that lake today, if you’re still down?” He asked.

“Yeah, of course, what time are you thinking?”

“We’re almost ready to leave, but we’ll stop and get some supplies. Pick you up in about an hour?”

“Okay!”

“What drinks do you like? I’ll get you some.”

“Ummm… I’ll be fine with whatever you guys are having.”

“Okay, well see you soon!”

You said bye and hung up, before rushing to get ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_An hour later…_

You were putting your hair up when you received a text from Colby saying that they were outside.

Quickly saying goodbye to your sister, before grabbing your bag and running downstairs.

Colby was waiting outside a car with its door open. As you approached you could hear talking and laughing coming from inside the car.

“Hey!” You said to Colby as you walked up to him.

“Hey, how are you?” He asked as he hugged you briefly.

“Good! You?”

“I’m doing great. Here hop in.” You climbed into the car, saying hi to Sam who was in the driver’s seat. Colby followed and settled next to you.

“Everyone, this is Y/N. Y/N, you know Kat, Sam’s girlfriend, and this is Kevin and Corey. The others are in the car behind us.” Colby explained as he introduced you to the two guys sitting in the back. You felt the car move off.

“Hi Y/N, nice to meet you! Call me Sugar K.. Or dad!” Kevin said, and the others groaned whilst laughing.

“What?! You all call me dad!” Kevin exclaimed.

“Don’t call him either, Y/N! Don’t give him the satisfaction!” Colby said, before turning to Kevin “why are you still trying to make Sugar K a thing?” He asked jokingly.

“It is a thing! People call me Sugar K all the time!”

“Which people?” Colby asked.

“Well, there’s me and uuuhhh… me!” Kevin replied with a laugh.

“You just got exposed, brother!” Corey said with a big grin and everyone laughed. You looked at Colby, confused. Colby caught you looking at him.

“Exposed is a series of YouTube videos that Kevin did, exposing all his friends.” Colby explained.

“How long have you guys known each other?” You asked them.

“Well, me and Sam met Corey pretty quickly after we moved to L.A., and then we lived together for two years.”

“R.I.P trap house!” Corey exclaimed from the back.

“Trap house..?” You asked with a laugh.

“Yeah, it was the name of the house.” Sam replied.

“It wasn’t an actual trap house, we wanted a nickname for the house, and somehow it became that! I think our friend Brennen came up with it.” Colby added with a smile, before continuing.

“Jake and Reggie are also from Kansas, we used to do Vines with Jake before we moved out there, and we’ve known Kevin, Mike and Aryia for a few years now! You’ll meet Tara as well, she’s Jake’s girlfriend. And Kat…” He looked towards the couple in the front “you guys have been dating for what, two and a half years now?”

“Yeah, we started dating at the beginning of 2017.” Sam answered as he sent a soft smile Kat’s way. _Cute_ You thought with a smile as you watched Kat reach across and grab Sam’s hand which was resting on his lap.

You spent the rest of the drive watching in amusement as the friends joked back and forth, and telling you funny stories.

You climbed out the car and joined Colby on his side as the rest of his friends exited the other car. They walked over and gather around as Colby introduced you to them as well. You said hi to each of them as Colby pointed them out.

“Where should we set up?” Sam asked as he opened the trunk of the car to get out their supplies.

“I know a good spot just through the trees there.” You said, pointing just a bit further along the shoreline of the lake.

“Alright, let’s grab the stuff guys!” Everyone joined Sam at the back of the car and grabbed the bags and foldable chairs from the trunk.

“Lead the way, Y/N!” Colby said.

“Right, this way!” You replied as you started along the trail, Colby caught up with you, and the two of you chatted as you walked down the path.

You soon came to the clearing that you had in mind.

“Hey, there’s a fire pit!” Colby said as he pointed towards the pit on the ground which was surrounded by logs to sit on.

“This place is so cool!” Kat said excitedly as her and Sam passed you guys, setting the bags they were carrying next to one of the logs.

You all sat and talked for a while, before you turned to Colby “wanna go swimming?” you asked him.

“Yeah, that’d be great! Did you bring a swimming costume?” He replied as he grabbed his bag and pulled out his swimming shorts.

“yeah, I’ve got it on underneath my clothes. There’s toilets back up by where he parked the cars if you want to go change.”

“Okay!” He said as he stood “hey guys, me and Y/N are going in the lake if you want to join?” He asked the rest of the group.

You didn’t hear their replies as you stepped away from the group to take off your hoodie and shorts.

You kicked off your shoes and walked down towards the lake, looking back briefly to see Colby, Sam and Katrina heading back up the trail.

Dipping your foot in first to test the temperature of the water, smiling as you felt warm water. You waded out until the water was up to your waist, before swimming out a bit further.

You tread water as you looked around, enjoying the scenery.

“HEY Y/N!” You turned to see Colby running down the dock, you were quite close to the end of the wooden structure.

You watched as Colby reached the end of the dock and launched himself off the edge.

“COLBY!” You yelled as Colby crashed into the water, sending a wave of water your way. You brought you’re arms up in a useless attempt to protect your face. The water hit your arms, face and most of your hair.

Colby popped out from under the water, a massive grin on his face. You glared at him, and he stopped as his smile dropped “shit.. I’m sorry!” He said as he swam closer to you.

You took your chance then, splashing the water into Colby’s face, catching by surprise.

“You asshole!” You shouted back with a laugh.

“Right, that’s it!” Colby retorted, sending another wave of water over you.

“What do you mean?! You started it!” You whined back childishly.

You and Colby began splashing each other back and forth, until you noticed Sam swimming up behind Colby. Sam stopped briefly, and put a finger up to his mouth in a ‘shhh’ motion.

You smiled, splashing Colby again to distract him as Sam swam closer until he was right behind his best friend.

Sam then pounced, grabbing Colby’s shoulders and using his grip to push himself up, jumping on Colby and forcing him under the water.

Colby came back up with a gasp, turning to see who pushed him under.

“Sam! You little bitch!” Colby dived back under the water, and a second later Sam was pushed up out of the water, and was sent flying back into the water on his back.

Colby followed up behind him, laughing. He shook his hair out of his eyes, and turned towards you, a playful smirk on his face.

Throwing your arms up in the arm “hey, hey, truce!” You said with a laugh, causing Colby to laugh more. Sam popped up and swam closer to join the conversation.

“Alright.” He said after a moment, still smiling.

Soon enough, Kat, Mike, Kevin and Aryia swam out to join you guys, and you spent the next hour or so chatting with Kat as you watched the guys wrestling and challenging each other to stupid tasks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think of this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

“Yo, should we get some wood to make a fire?” Sam asked as you, him, Colby and Kat returned to the group after getting changed out of your swimming costumes.

“I nominate Kevin and Mike!” Colby shouted his reply.

“What?! Why us?” Mike argued back.

“You two are the muscle-“ Colby started before he was interrupted by Corey.

“NOSE GOES!” He shouted, putting a finger on his nose. You watched in confusion as everyone did the same.

“Looks like Y/N’s getting the wood!” Jake stated with a laugh.

“Dude! That’s not fair!” Colby argued in your defence.

“It’s fine, we’ll go!” You butted in, “come on boy scout!” You said to Colby.

“What?!” Colby exclaimed, pouting back at you.

“Boy scout!” Sam shouted with a laugh.

“You too, Sam!” You replied, causing the group to laugh.

“What?!” The blonde echoed his best friend.

“Raise your hands if you agree with Y/N!” Kevin interjected, raising a hand in the air, everyone apart from Sam and Colby doing to same.

You giggled as Colby turned to you, a frown on face as Sam mumbled a god dang it next to him.

“Fine!” Colby blew out a breath “but Imma get you back for this!” He said seriously, before a grin broke out on his face.

“Oh, I’m so scared Colby!” You replied sarcastically, making his friends laugh more.

“Come on guys, let’s just get this over with!” Sam interrupted as he started towards the wooded area.

You and Colby followed him, bickering back and forth playfully.

~~~~

**Corey’s POV**

You laughed as you watched Colby and Y/N arguing as they disappeared into the woods, before turning to the rest of the group.

“Man, I like her! She’s feisty!” You said once you were sure the three were out ear-shot. The others hummed in agreement.

“Do you think Colby likes her… like, more than a friend?” Jake asked.

“Sam said Colby was talking about her non-stop after he came back yesterday!” Katrina replied.

“You serious?!” I asked, shocked.

“Yeah.” Katrina nodded. “I mean, that’s what Sam said anyway!”

“Do you think Colby will do anything though, I mean… We’re going back to L.A. in what? Two days?” Jake then questioned.

“Aw man, it’ll suck if he really likes her..” You commented, you knew when Colby falls in love, he falls hard and fast, and it might be hard for him to act on any feelings in the small amount of time before he went back to L.A.

There was an awkward silence, before Kevin decided to change the subject.

~~~~

**Your POV**

“Hey, do you want me to take some of those?” Colby asked as he watched you adjust the plie of sticks in your arms.

“No thanks, I got it!” You replied with a smile.

“Do you think we got enough?” Sam asked, you looked at the piles he and Colby each had in their arms.

“Yeah, I think so!” You said.

“Great, let’s head back.” Colby stated as he turned back to where his friends were.

You went to follow behind Colby, but you couldn’t really see where you were stepping, and sure enough your foot caught on a root sticking up from the ground. You went down hard, yelping out as you hit the ground. You felt the wood digging into your stomach through your thin t-shirt, which will definitely leave a few bruises and scratches.

“Shit! Y/N!” You heard Colby cursing. You hissed as you pushed yourself up into a sitting position.

“Hey! Are you alright?” You felt someone at your side, and you looked up to see Colby crouching down next to you.

“Fuck…” you swore as you saw a cut on your right knee, bleeding sluggishly. “I’m so fucking clumsy!”

“Shit! Y/N, your arm!” you met Colby’s eyes briefly, seeing nothing but concern and worry there. You then looked back down at your arm, turning it to see a small gash on your forearm, also bleeding.

“Are you alright?!” Colby asked, before continuing “here, let me see!” You let him take your arm, his grasp gentle as he held your wrist and elbow as he inspected the cut.

“It’ll need cleaning out and bandaging after we stop the bleeding.” He commented.

“Are you okay to walk?” He asked as he stood, it was then you noticed Sam hovering over the two of you, also looking worried.

“I’m not sure, my leg’s a little sore!”

“Here.” Colby said, reaching out a hand to help you up. You grabbed it and he pulled you up slowly.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked as he helped you find your feet.

“I think my stomach’s a little bruised from landing on the wood, but other than that and the cuts, no.” You replied.

“Come on.” He said as he wrapped an arm around your waist almost protectively, letting you loop your uninjured arm over his shoulder. “Let’s get you back to the group, hopefully someone’s got a first aid kit.” He added.

“What about the wood?” You asked.

“Someone will come back for it.” He replied.

You had a slight limp with your injured leg, but Colby supported you the whole back to his friends.

“Hey guys!” Colby shouted as you emerged from the trees, gaining the attention of his friends. “Anyone got a first aid kit?”

“Oh my god! What happened?” Katrina asked as she saw the cuts on my arm and leg.

“I took a bit of a tumble.” You replied with an embarrassed laugh.

“Here, come sit down here!” Corey said as he jumped up out of the chair that he was sitting in.

Colby led you over and helped you lower down into the chair.

“Here.” You looked up at the voice, seeing Kevin standing there, a first aid kit in his hand.

“Thanks dad!” You said, hearing chuckles coming from the small group, you noticed that they had gathered around curiously, but also keeping their distance as to not over-crowd you.

“Of course, I take care of all my children!” Kevin replied confidently, causing you to smile, more at the fact that they seemed to have quickly accepted you into their group.

“Hey, Y/N.” You heard Colby speaking softly next to you, and you focused on him “are you okay with me…?” he trailed off, holding up a bottle of anti-septic cream and bandages.

“Yeah, you do it.” You replied with a nod.

You watched as he cleaned out the cut on your leg, hissing slight at the sting as the cream met the wound.

“Sorry… Sorry…” Colby whispered as his eyes met yours briefly.

“It’s okay, it just stings.” You reassured him.

He bandaged up your leg before moving closer to get to your arm.

“Is that it? Are you hurt anywhere else?” He asked as he finished up with your arm.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“What about your stomach?” He questioned, and you couldn’t help but smile at how caring and attentive he was.

“Oh.. Yeah..” You said as the pain in your stomach made itself known.

You lifted your top from the bottom, gasping at the sight of dark bruises that were already forming across your lower stomach.

“Crap!” Colby swore, his eyes shining with worry “do you need to go to the hospital?!”

“No, it’s okay, it hurts a little but I think it’ll be alright.”

“But what if you’ve broken a rib or something?”

“It’s alright Colbs, I feel like it’d hurt more than this if I’d broken a rib.” You reassured him, although you felt touched about how much he seemed to care.

“If you’re sure?” Colby questioned, looking uncertain.

“I’m sure. Thanks for patching me up.” You smiled at him.

“No problem.” He replied, smiling back at you.

You held his gaze for a moment, before hearing someone clearing there throat, and you then remembered that all of Colby’s friends were present.

“How about we get that fire going before it starts to go dark?” Sam asked, which seemed to pull Colby back to reality.

“Yeah… Sam, could you go back and get the rest of the wood?” He asked as he stood, although he didn’t move any further from you.

Sam seemed to want to argue back, opening his mouth to say something back, however he shut it again after sharing a look with Colby.

“Yeah, sure! Corey, come give me a hand?”

“Of course, brother!” Corey replied as he went to follow after Sam.

“Hey.” You turned to see Colby staring down at you. “You hungry?” He asked.

“Starving!” You exclaimed, making him chuckle. You stood, wincing slightly at your sore stomach, before following him over to the bags of food that they had brought with them.

He sat down on one of the logs as he grabbed a bag.

“What are you feeling? We’ve got chips, candy…”

“You got Doritos?” you asked as you sat down next to him.

“Yeah, here!” He passed you the packet.

You felt a slight breeze coming in from the lake, which made you shiver.

“Hey, are you cold?” Colby asked.

“A little.. I forgot to bring a jacket.”

“Well, here, have my hoodie.” He said as he grabbed a bag and pulled out a bright blue hoodie.

“Thanks, Colbs.” You un-folded the hoodie a little, noticing a koala on the front it “koalas?” You asked him.

“Yeah, they’re my favourite animal, the hoodie a part of my merch. The ears on the hood is the best bit.” He stated as he reached over to show you the ears.

“Cute.” You said simply as you pulled the hoodie on.

“You look cute in it.” It made you freeze and look up at him, blushing furiously. He seemed to realise what he had said, his cheeks turning slightly pink, and he quickly looked away.

“Thanks..” You mumbled, you looked down at the packet of chips in your lap “so, uhhh… Doritos.. Want some?” You asked as you opened the bag.

“Yeah, uhh.. sure, thanks.” He turned back to you, although not quite meeting your gaze, and dug his hand into the bag of chips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really not sure about this story, so please let me know what you think! :)


	7. Campfires and Serious Conversations

You wiped the tears from your eyes as you watch Corey and Jake dance and mess around. Their antics had made you laugh so much that it made you cry.

You looked at Colby to your right and noticed that he was watching you, a smile on his face. It made you pause briefly, but then Colby seemed to register that he was staring. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“How’s the leg and arm?” He then asked.

“They’re fine, I had a good nurse!” You replied while smirking, shoving him slightly with your body.

He laughed, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Hey guys!” You looked up to Sam standing there, a camera in his hand. “Are you okay with me filming for my channel?” He asked, looking at you so you guessed the question was directed more towards you.

You opened your mouth to say it was fine, but then Colby interrupted.

“Sam.” He stated simply, a warning in his voice. You glanced at him and saw a serious look on his face. “Y/N’s not used to that kind of stuff, and you know my fans will-” He continued, but you interjected.

“Hey, it’s alright, I’m fine with him filming.” You said, making Colby turn towards you.

It was quiet for a moment as Colby stared at you.

“Listen, can I speak with you in private for a minute?” He then asked as he stood, turning to you and offering out his hand.

“Yeah… Yeah sure.” You answered unsure as you took his hand. He pulled you up, but didn’t let go of your hand as he led you into the trees.

“Colby, what’s going on?” You asked quietly, and you walked a bit further until he stopped.

“Y/N, it’s just… Shit, it’s hard to explain.” He looked conflicted, _hurt_ even, and you wanted to reach across and give him a hug.

“It’s alright, just take your time.” You tried to reassure him.

“Okay…. Okay, this isn’t about you being uncomfortable around the camera, it’s about my fans…” He trailed off, he seemed to be lost for words again.

“Your fans..?” You asked, trying to prompt him into talking more.

“Yeah, they get weird whenever they see me on camera next to a girl, even if we’re just friends.”

“Weird in what way?”

“They immediately assume we’re dating and… I don’t know, they get jealous I guess, and then they are start harassing the girl, some even send death threats.” He explained.

“Death threats?! Are you serious? All because they’re seen with you.”

“Yeah, it could be that I’m just sitting next to a girl talking to her, and it’s like World War III.” He sighed.

So, what? They expect you to never have a girlfriend, or friends that are girls even?”

“I mean, they’re going to have to deal with it when I eventually get a girlfriend.”

“So you don’t want me to be on camera with you because you think your fans will attack me?”

“Yeah, I’ve had relationships ruined in the past because of it, even if they were completely platonic.”

“How, though?” You asked.

“Well, either the fans assume me and the girl are dating, and want us to be together, which makes it awkward because we have no romantic feelings towards each other at all, or they literally scare them off with their threats.” He explained, and you stood dumbfounded for a moment.

“That’s crazy!” You exclaimed “I never thought that would be a downside to fame.”

“It definitely makes me more cautious of who I have around me.” He stated seriously.

“That sucks though, you shouldn’t form relationships depending on how you think your fans will react to that person.” You replied, and Colby looked away in thought.

“So that’s why you didn’t want me on camera?” You went on to ask.

“Yeah… I just don’t want to see you getting hurt because of me.”

“But how would they know who I am? I don’t use social media for anything other than speaking with friends and family.”

“You’d be surprised. They have their ways of finding people.”

“That’s… concerning.”

“I know… Shit, I hate talking crap about my fans, because I wouldn’t be here without them, but it is scary. I was friends with this one girl once, she only had like a hundred followers on social media. I don’t know when, but we were seen together, and someone managed to figure out who she was and… God, the comments and stuff she was sent were awful.” He said, looking genuinely upset.

“Hey.” Your voice was soft as you approached him, and wrapped your arms around his waist in a hug. You felt him let out a breath as he relaxed into the hug, and his arm looping around your shoulders.

“I’m sorry that you have to go through this.” You whispered.

“It’s okay.” He replied, although you could tell your words did nothing to comfort him.

“If it makes you feel any better I don’t get scared off easily. I don’t give a shit about what people I don’t even know say about me, especially behind a computer screen.”

“You say that now, but…” He trailed off, so you spoke up.

“I know, I may feel differently if I receive death threats, but right now all I want is to get to know you again… And your amazing friends!”

“Let’s worry about that other crap later if it happens, but right now let’s enjoy the rest of the night.” You added, pulling away so you could look up at him.

“You’re right!” He said, a grin appearing on his face.

“Of course I am.” You scoffed, “now let’s get back to your friends before they come looking for us!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You noticed Colby’s friend sending awkward glances your way as you and Colby appeared back in the small clearing.

Colby said nothing as he returned to where he was sitting before, so you followed suit, settling next to him.

Sam was the first to speak up.

“Guys…?” He said, a question in his voice.

“We’re okay if you want to film Sam, right Colby?” You said as you nudged the blue-haired boy. Colby looked at you, and for a brief moment he looked scared and uncertain.

You went a reassuring smile his way, and he smiled back before turning to Sam.

“Yeah, it’s cool with me!” And with that the blond went to grab the camera from where he’d set it down on one of the chairs.

“Hey..” You heard a soft voice coming from next to you, and you turned to meet Colby’s eyes.

“Come here.” He said simply as he reached across and wrapped an arm around your back, pulling you closer to him. You shifted nearer to him, until your side was flush with his.

You watched as he glanced over to Sam, who was speaking into his camera. You could see the weariness on his face.

“Colbs.” You said simply to gain his attention, and his eyes bore into your own. “It’ll be okay.”

It brought another smile to his face, and he pulled you in again.

You were surprised when you felt his lips against your forehead as he pressed a quick kiss there. You rested your head on his shoulder, feeling his chin resting on top of your head.

You stayed there, feeling warm and comfy in Colby’s embrace. You found yourself zoning out as you reached over and started playing with the rings on his fingers absentmindedly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**_Kat’s POV_ **

You shared a brief look with Tara, before you both glanced at Colby and Y/N. You turned back to Tara, bringing your hand up to your chest as if to say that your heart was melting. Tara nodded with a smile, apparently agreeing that the two were absolutely adorable together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're all doing well and enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think! <3 :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short-ish filler chapter to set up for the next one! I'm already half way through the next chapter, and it's looking like it'll be a long one. :)

You stood up only to find yourself wobbling a bit as the alcohol seemed to go straight to your head. You hadn’t really drank alcohol since you had broken up with your ex-boyfriend, and that was two years ago.  
“Woah..” You giggled as you watched the ground spin underneath you.  
“Hey.” You heard as an arm snaked around your waist, steadying you as you swayed from side to side.  
“Y/N, you okay?” Colby asked, and you figured it was him that had a hold of you.  
“Yeah.. Just a little tipsy!” You replied with a laugh.  
“Alright, we should probably get you home then.” You were confused by the concern in his voice.  
“I’m okay!” You said with confidence, trying to take a step away from him to prove it. However, you ended up stumbling, and probably would have fell had Colby not grabbed you again.  
“We should probably pack up and head back anyway, it’s getting quite late.” You followed the voice to see Sam standing across the fire.  
“Here, why don’t you sit down while we clear this stuff away.” Colby said, guiding you back to where you were sitting before. You watched blearily as Colby and his friends pack up. Colby returned to you half way through, handing you a bottle of water and a packet of chips to help you sober up a little.  
“Sorry.” You said to him as he got up to leave, “I haven’t drank alcohol in a while, so I think my tolerance is next to nothing.” You explained.  
“It’s fine!” He reassured you, “trust me you’re not the only one who’s a little buzzed tonight!” He pointed over to Reggie, who was puking into the bushes.  
“See, you could be Reggie!” Colby joked “just let me know if you are going to hurl, especially in the car on the way back.. It’s a rental.”   
“No puking in the car, got in!” You nodded with a smile.  
_____________________________  
You reluctantly let Colby support you back to the car, you had mostly sobered up but you were still a little unstable on your feet.  
The drive back was quiet, you had Jake and Tara in the back of the car this time, and the two were curled up together in the back, Jake pretty much passed out while Tara was dozing off.  
“I’ll walk you to your door.” Colby said as you pulled up in front of your house.  
“How are you feeling now?” He asked as you both clambered out of the car.  
“I’m good.” You replied.  
He followed you up to the front door, and you stopped on the front porch.  
“Listen, thanks for inviting me today, I had a lot of fun!”   
“Nah, thanks for coming out! It was good to hang out with you again after all this time.” He replied with a smile.  
“When are you heading back to L.A.?” You asked him.  
“Tomorrow night. I’m spending the day with my family tomorrow, and then we’re all flying back at like 8pm.”  
Your stomach dropped a little, you were hoping to get to see him again before he went home.  
“Oh… Well, then I hope you have a safe flight!”  
“Thanks… But listen, I was thinking… Why don’t you come out to L.A. for a bit? I don’t mean like tomorrow, but maybe the next time you have time off. You said you wanted to travel a little, and you have to see a bit of California. I have space in my apartment if you want to stay there.” He rambled on, and you couldn’t help but find it adorable.  
“Yeah definitely, that would be amazing!” You grinned, feeling a little better at the thought of getting to see him again sometime in the near future.  
“Awesome, I’ll keep in touch so we can sort something out!” He smiled back.  
“I should get going..” Colby then said.  
“Yeah, of course… I guess I’ll see you soon!” You opened your arms to give him a hug, and he pulled you in tightly, squeezing you gently before breaking away.  
“See ya!” He said, and then he turned to go, he stopped again as he got to the car to turn and wave at you again. You waved back, before unlocking your front door and going inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it looks like the reader is heading out to L.A! :) Please let me know what you think so far!


	9. Los Angeles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader flies out to L.A. to spend three weeks with Colby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why this chapter ended up so long, this story will get better I promise!
> 
> Trigger warning: Implied past alcohol abuse.

**_1 month later…_ **

You huffed as you tried to wrestle your suitcase closed, looking up at the clock briefly to check how much time you had left before you had to leave for the airport.

You were an excited ball of energy at the thought of spending three weeks in L.A. with Colby. You had spoken to him over the phone almost every day since he had left Kansas.

“Shit…” you cursed as you realised that you only about 10 minutes left.

“Language, Y/N.” Looking behind you to see your mom standing there, cursing again inwardly.

“Sorry mom. I can’t get this stupid thing closed, and I need to leave soon.” She then came over to help squish the lid of your suitcase down so you could do the zip up easier.

You thanked her as you pulled the suitcase from your bed, stumbling a little as the weight of it pulled you down.

“You know you didn’t have to take your whole wardrobe, some would think you’re moving out forever.” Your mom joked.

“I’m going for three weeks, mom, I need to be prepared!” You defended, making her chuckle.

“Have you got everything?” She then asked.

“I think so, I just need to pack the rest of my bag pack.” You replied, before continuing “Is dad still panicking about me going?”

“Y/N…” She sighed. “You know he just worries, I do too.”

It was your turn to sigh. “I know mom, I really do! But I’ve been mostly sober for a year now, and the person that caused most of my issues back then is no longer in my life.” You explained as you moved to stuff the rest of your things into your bag pack.

“We know that, and we’re so proud of how far you’ve come… But we don’t want Colby leading you astray.”

“Colby’s not going to…” You stopped and took a frustrated breath as you tried to calm yourself. “Mom, you used to adore Colby when we were friends, and he’s still that sweet kid, trust me… I get you didn’t approve of the stupid stuff he used to do, but all 15 year old boys are like that.” You knew you were kind of disrespecting your mom by arguing back, but you were getting sick of this same argument.

You prepared for a lecture, but were surprised as you were gathered into a soft hug.

“We do trust you, honey.” She whispered in your ear, and then continued “You deserve it with everything you’ve overcome, and we are trying to learn to support you in whatever you want to do.”

“Then let me just enjoy these three weeks in L.A.” You reasoned.

“Okay.” She responded quietly, before pulling away and giving you a stern look. “Just promise that you’ll call every day, and let us know if you need anything!”

“I promise, Ma.” You said sincerely. Glancing up at the clock again. “I really need to go!”

“Here, I’ll get your bags. You get your suitcase.” You thanked her as she took your bag pack and handbag from you.

You followed her as you lugged your suitcase downstairs and out to your car.

“Let me know when you’ve landed.”

“I will!” You promised as you gave her a big hug.

“Have fun, sweetie.” She said as she squeezed you tightly.

“Thanks.” You replied as you climbed into your car. Waving at her briefly before starting your car and reversing down your drive.

You glanced at your mom in your rear view mirror as you left your house, tears prickling in your eyes at the thought of being away from her for so long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**_6 Hours later…_ **

“Y/N!!” You heard your name being yelled almost as soon as you walked through the glass sliding doors. Your eyes scanned through the crowd of people, immediately landing on the familiar face of Colby Brock, who was already rushing towards you.

“Colby, hey!” You exclaimed as you walked over to meet him half way.

You were almost bowled over by the intensity of his bear hug as he flung his arms around you, and pulled you in tightly.

“Hey! It’s good to see you!” He said as he pulled away, grinning ear to ear.

“You too! How have you been?” You asked him.

“Good! What about you? How was your flight?”

“I’ve been great, and my flight was fine, thanks.” You stated.

“Here, let me take your bag!” You went to object, but he was already grabbing your suitcase off you, and you decided to let it slide.

“How was England? When did you get back?” You questioned as you fell into step next to him, heading towards the exit.

“It was amazing… Well, frightening… But amazing! We went to a castle in uhhh.. Scotland, that was scary!” He explained.

“Really?! What happened?” You asked.

“Ahhh… Well, you’ll have to wait until the videos come out.” Colby replied, but you knew by the small smile on his face that he was only teasing, and you played along anyway.

“Colbyyyy…” You whined. “You can’t tease it like that and not tell me!” You said.

“Alright..” He then went on to tell you about some of the experiences that he and his friends had. You were so engrossed in what he was saying that you didn’t realise that you had arrived at his car.

“What?! You think you were talking to a demon?” You questioned incredulously as he lifted your suitcase into the back of his car and walked around to the driver’s side.

“Honestly, yeah!” He admitted as you both got in the car. “Why would a spirit or whatever say that it was a demon, y’know?”

“That’s a good point! I can’t wait to see the videos!” You agreed, before asking “do you know what you’re going to do next?”

“Yeah, actually, we’re planning on going back to Corey’s house in Florida. He kind of had a moment in Scotland where he got really emotional because of the paranormal stuff that has been following him since he was a teenager, and it all started in his home. So we’re going to go there to help him get some closure or whatever on this whole thing.” Colby explained.

“That sounds… Terrifying!” You exclaimed, making him laugh.

“Yeah, tell me about it! But… If it’ll help Corey, then it’s something we have to do!”

“You’re so brave!” You joked sarcastically, which he didn’t realise at first.

“Yeah-” He started a proud smile on his face, but then he realised that the smile on your face was playful. “Shut up.” He grumbled, before bursting back into laughter.

“So, what do you want to do while you’re in L.A?” He asked as he started his car.

“I dunno.. The usual touristy stuff, I guess, but mostly just hang out with you and your friends.”

“Okay, sounds good!” He smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**_1 hour later…_ **

“So how long have you lived in this apartment?” You questioned as you followed Colby down the hallway of his apartment building.

“Only a few months, we moved in at the beginning of the year.” He replied.

“We?” You asked.

“Oh.. I mean Sam, Jake and I. We don’t live together, but Sam lives next door and Jake lives a floor below us.” He explained, as he unlocked his door.

“Here.” He held the door open for you, letting you pass him. “I’ll put your stuff in my room, you can take my bed.”

“Are you sure?” You asked as you trailed after him to his bedroom while looking around his apartment curiously.

“Yeah, I usually fall asleep on my couch anyway!” He explained.

“Sam asked me if we wanted to hang out with him and Kat later, you down?”

“Yeah sure, that’s sounds like fun!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think!


	10. Pizza and a Movie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader and Colby hang out with Sam and Katrina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much happens in this chapter, but I hope you enjoy!

“Hey, Sam just texted. He said they’re back at his place so we can go over if you’re ready.” Colby said after his phone alerted him of said text. You had spent the last hour catching up with him as you were waiting for Sam to come back from picking Kat up.

“Yeah, let’s go!” You replied as you rose from his couch.

You followed him out of his apartment to Sam’s. Colby knocked twice on Sam’s door before opening the door, letting himself in.

“Hey, man.” You heard him say, presumably to Sam, but you couldn’t see around him just yet.

Trailing after Colby, you entered the apartment, seeing Sam in the kitchen area and Kat curled up on his sofa.

“Hey Y/N!” Sam greeted you as he rounded the counter and slipped past Colby to give you a brief hug.

“Hi!” You said as you wrapped your arms around him, smiling at the fact that just like Colby, Sam was still as soft as you remember. You were glad that L.A. hadn’t seemed to change either of them at all. You felt regret over the fact that you hadn’t got the chance to get to know Sam that well when you were younger. Despite knowing of Sam before he and Colby had become friends, you never became more than just acquaintances with him, but you had heard a lot about Sam from Colby before your parents had forced you away from Colby.

You and Sam pulled away from each other, and you then said hi to Kat as well.

“Make yourself at home, Y/N.” Sam said and you thanked him, moving to sit on the couch.

“How was your flight?” Kat asked as you sat down.

“Yeah, it was fine, thank you.” You replied.

“I was thinking that we order some pizza and watch some movies. It that okay with you, Y/N?” Sam questioned as he and Colby joined you and Kat on the sofa.

“Yeah, that sounds great.” You said.

“Dominos or Pizza Hut?” Colby asked you as he dropped down next to you.

“Uhh.. I prefer Dominos but I don’t mind.”

“Urgh why? Pizza Hut is better!” Colby exclaimed.

“What?! No, it’s not!” You argued back.

“Yeah it is!” He replied, and you turned to Sam and Kat as you heard them laughing.

“Looks like Y/N’s sucked into the great pizza debate, this happens every pizza night.” Sam explained.

“What do you guys vote for?” You asked then.

“Dominos.” They both replied at the same time, which made Colby groan beside you.

“HA! I think majority rules.” You shot a shit-eating grin Colby’s way, and he glared back.

“It does, it won’t stop Colby from bitching about it though!” Sam joked.

“Hey!” Colby yelled as he threw a cushion across the sofa at Sam, who shot it back at him immediately.

“Alright, fine, we’ll get Dominos.” Colby grumbled as he set the cushion down next to him, as Sam grabbed his laptop from the coffee table to order the pizza.

“Sam and I are going to the beach tomorrow, if you guys want to join us.” Kat offered.

“Yeah, that would be nice. There aren’t any beaches in Kansas, as these guys would know.” You pointed between Sam and Colby. “Is that okay with you, Colbs?”

“Yeah, of course!” Colby smiled.

The pizza arrived twenty minutes later, and the four of you then settled in to watch Age of Adaline.

“You said this wasn’t a chick flick.” Colby looked at you accusingly as the film started.

“Well, I lied, but you said I could choose the film so…” You laughed, and Kat giggled as well as Sam’s eyes cut to you.

“I’m not letting you choose anything again!” Colby nudged you with his elbow.

“Just… shut up and watch the movie!”

A minute later you felt Colby wrap an arm around your shoulders.

“You trying to put the moves on me, Brock.” You joked, but you still settled back into him. Turning to look at him when you realised that he didn’t respond to you, and he smiled shyly back at you. You found yourself smiling back, blushing a little, before remembering that Sam and Kat were also in the room, so you turned to focus back on the TV.

About half an hour into the movie, you felt yourself falling off to sleep. You didn’t realise as you sagged back into Colby, your head resting on his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Sam’s POV**

My eyes met Colby’s, noticing a weird look on his face. I watched as he looked down briefly at Y/N, before glancing back up at me. Staring at her for a moment, I noticed that she wasn’t moving.

“Is she asleep?” I whispered to Colby, who nodded slightly.

“She must be tired from travelling today. Should we stop the movie?” I asked quietly, reaching for the remote.

“Nah, just leave her for now. I kind of want to see the end anyway.” Colby replied with a smile, voice barely above a whisper.

I didn’t miss the way Colby’s arm tightened slightly around her. It was obvious to me that he liked her in more than a platonic way, and I hoped that she felt the same way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_1 hour later…_

You were woken by the feeling of the warmth beneath you shifting.

“Hey.” You heard a soft voice, and you looked up slowly to see Colby leaning over you. You then realised that you must’ve fallen asleep on Colby, and you felt mortified.

“Sorry.” You apologised, feeling your cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

“It’s okay, you must be tired.” Colby replied.

You gazed around the room, noticing that the TV was switched off, and that Sam and Kat were clearing stuff away in the kitchen. “Did you finishing the movie?”

“Yeah.” He said simply. “C’mon, we should go to bed.” He continued as he offered a hand out to pull you up from the couch.

The two of you said bye to Sam and Kat, and returned to Colby’s apartment.

“Did you like the film at least?” You questioned as you shut the door behind you.

“Yeah, it was good actually.” Colby laughed.

“I knew you were a softy at heart.” You joked with a soft smile.

You yawned suddenly, bringing up a hand to cover your mouth. “Fuck… I should go to bed.”

“Yeah sure, I’ll see you in the morning.” Colby said.

“See ya.” You replied as you walked passed him to his bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)


	11. The Beach Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, how are you all?
> 
> I ended up splitting this chapter in half because it was getting a bit long. I'm still writing the other half, but I'll try posting it either tomorrow or the day after.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy it!

It was the sound of a door opening and closing that woke you. Blinking tiredly around the room, you were momentarily confused at the unfamiliar features, before remembering that you had flown out to L.A. yesterday. You searched around for your phone, finding it on the bedside table. You saw that you had missed a phone call from your mom, and had a message from your best friend in Kansas, Sarah.

_‘Hey! You didn’t message me back yesterday! Please let me know that you’re alive at least!’_

Rolling your eyes at her message with a smile, she’s always been over-dramatic, but it was one of the reasons you loved her. She was the chaos to your calm personality. You messaged her back telling her that you had made it safe to L.A., and that you’d call her later.

 _‘Have you made your move on emo cutie yet?’_ was her reply, which almost made you regret ever telling her about how close you and Colby had become back in Kansas, because ever since she had been insisting that you had a crush on Colby. In all honesty you didn’t know how you felt about Colby, nor how he felt about you. There was that moment back on that hill in Kansas, which you definitely hadn’t told Sarah about, but you had put that down to a spur of the moment type thing.

 _‘No! And his name is Colby!’_ You messaged back.

_‘Aw. ): I know you’re hopeless with boys, but if you haven’t at least kissed him by the end of these three weeks I’m going to be so disappointed!’_

_‘Well I guess you’re going to be disappointed then, because we’re just friends!’_ You typed back.

_‘Sure…’_

_‘Shut up! I’m being serious. I gotta go, but I’ll call you later.’_ You replied.

 _‘Go get him girl!’_ You groaned at the message, although you often admired her relentlessness, you were too tired to deal with it that morning.

You decided not to message her back again, briefly grimacing at the fact that you were going to get shit for it from her later, but she would have to deal with it.

Climbing out the bed, you walked over to the door and opened it slowly as you weren’t sure if Colby would still be asleep.

However, as soon as you turned the corner you saw Colby sitting on the couch looking at his phone, very much awake.

“Morning!” You greeted, and he snapped in eyes up to look at you.

“Good morning! I was just about to come see if you were awake. Did you sleep well?” He asked as you walked over to join him on the sofa.

“Yeah, thanks.” You replied simply.

“Do you want breakfast? I can order something on Postmates.”

“Yeah, sounds good. What are you thinking?”

“It’s up to you, I know I few good bakeries around here if you want something like that. Here… Have a look through.” He said as he passed you his phone.

“Thanks.” You took the device and started to look through the website.

“Is that my hoodie?” He questioned, and you glanced up, meeting his eyes for a second before looking down at the blue hoodie you were wearing, realising that it was in fact his.

“Yeah! It’s the one you gave me in Kansas. I bought it in case you wanted it back.” You explained, although hoped that he would let you keep it as it had quickly became your favourite hoodie with it being so comfortable.

“Nah, you keep it. I can get my merch whenever I want. It suits you anyway.” He complimented you.

“Thank you! I must say it’s very comfy.” You smiled as you snuggled down into the warmth of the piece of clothing.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I wear it all the time back home.” You explained, and he smiled back at you.

“So, what looks good?” He asked, pointing at his phone.

“Oh.. Yeah. What about this place?” You questioned, showing him the screen.

“It’s good there, I order from there all the time.” He said.

Giving the phone back to him.

“What do you want?” You rattled of your order to him, leaning over to direct him to what you wanted.

“Are we still going to the beach today?” You asked.

“Yeah, Sam text me this morning. He said we’ll go whenever we’re all ready.” He replied.

“Okay. I’ll go get ready while we’re waiting for our breakfast to get here.” You said as you stood.

“Yeah, good idea!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_30 minutes later…_

“How was your food?” Colby asked you as he finished his breakfast.

“Really good, actually. What about yours?”

“Yeah, mine was nice.” He replied, before continuing “are you ready to leave? Sam will be waiting for us.”

“Yeah, I’m ready if you are.” You explained.

“Alright, I’ll text Sam and tell him to come over.”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

A few minutes later there were knocks on the door before it was opened and pushed open to reveal Sam and Kat.

“Hey!” You said to them.

“Hi!” They both greeted you back.

“What’s up, guys?” Colby’s voice came as he walked back into the main living area from the bathroom.

“Hi Colby!” Kat said enthusiastically.

“Hey bro. You guys ready?” Sam asked.

“Yeah.” You answered as you stood from the couch, picking up your bag as you went.

You followed the three to the lift which took you down to the garage, speaking to Kat as Sam and Colby talked about their YouTube channels.

“A Corolla, Colby?” You asked jokingly with a laugh as you stopped at the red car.

“Hey! Don’t make fun of my baby!” Colby said, his voice almost a yell, but you could tell he wasn’t really offended.

“Yeah! We’ve been making fun of this car for years, and it’s still not made him get a better one!” Sam joined in, laughing as well.

“Shut the fuck up! Do you want me to drive or not?” Colby directed the question at Sam.

“You’re the only one that can, brother!” Sam argued back, holding his hands up in surrender.

“Do you not have a car, Sam?” You asked Sam.

“Yeah! That Audi’s mine.” He pointed to the white car parked a few spaces down. “But it only has two seats.”

“It’s nice.” You said as you admired the car.

“Thanks.”

“I swear you only got that car so you never have to drive anywhere.” Colby bickered from the driver’s side of the car.

“What?! I drive just as much as you do!” Sam disagreed.

“When it’s just the two of us, yeah. But not when we’re with anyone else.”

“Well…” Sam shrugged with a chuckle.

“I call shotgun!” You butted in, walking down to the passenger side door.

“Hey!” Sam objected.

“Sorry Sammy! You snooze, you lose!” You quipped back as you got into the car, turning around to grin triumphantly at Sam who laughed back.

Turning back to the front, you noticed Colby smiling brightly at you from the driver’s seat.

“Here. Passenger gets the privilege of deciding on the music.” He said as he handed you his phone.

“What?! You never let me choose the music!” Sam whined from the back.

“It’s because your music taste sucks Sammy.” Colby joked back, earning a kick in the back of his seat from Sam.

“Hey!” He yelled, while you and Kat watched the exchange giggling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!


	12. The Beach Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed to write something a bit lighter after having a bad couple of days! So I decided to update this story instead of Unleashed this week.

**Reader’s POV**

“SAM AND COLBY!” The four of us turned at the yell, and saw three teenage girls running towards them.

“Oh my God… Oh my God!” One shouted excitedly as they got closer.

I felt awkward and shy at the attention flocking around us, but I eyed Kat, Sam and Colby. I was intrigued to see how they dealt with fans.

I watched as easy, bright smiles came to the three of their faces.

“Hey guys.” Colby greeted them.

“Oh my god, hi! Can we get a picture with you guys?” One of the girls asked eagerly.

“Yeah, of course.” Sam replied coolly.

Soon they were joined by two other groups of kids, and I had to step back as I started to feel a bit crowded.

I retreated back to stand by some benches, when I overheard a conversation next to me. Glancing over briefly to see two girls standing with an older woman who was sitting on the bench.

“C’mon Lottie, this might be the only chance to meet them.” The older looking girl said to the smaller girl.

“I’m too scared!” The younger girl admitted, and my heart went out to her.

“You don’t need to be! It’s Sam and Colby.” The names peaked my interest, and I figured that I should’ve put together that they were talking about the boys earlier.

"Can’t we just wait until all the other people go?” The younger girl asked shyly.

“They’re not going to be here forever, Lottie!” The older girl sounded irritated. “Mom! Can’t I just go over by myself?” He sent the question to the older woman on the beach.

“No, you need to take your sister.” Their mother responded. I could see even from where I was standing that tears were welling up in the smaller girl’s eyes as her older sister glared at her.

I decided to help. “Hey.” I interrupted them. “They’re very nice, you know? You don’t need to be scared.” I addressed the younger girl.

“How do you know? Are you their friend?” Her sister asked me.

“Yeah, I’ve known Sam and Colby for a few years.” I replied.

“Really?!” The younger girl’s eyes grew to saucers as she gazed up at me.

“Listen, do you want me to take you over and introduce you? It’ll be okay.”

“Yes please.” The older girl answered quickly.

“You don’t need to be scared.” I reassured the younger girl as she still looked uncertain, and I whooped inwardly when she nodded after a moment.

“Is that okay?” I asked their mother, who nodded and smiled appreciatively.

“Yeah! Thank you! Go ahead girls.”

“Alright. Come on.” I said to the two girls, who feel into step next to me as I headed over to the small gathering.

“What are your names?” I caught the younger sibling’s name when I was eavesdropping, but I didn’t know the older girl’s.

“My name’s Hope, and she’s Lottie.”

“It’s short for Charlotte.” The younger girl piped up from beside her sister.

“I love that.” I commented with a smile, and received a grin back.

“What’s your name?” She asked.

“I’m Y/N.” You replied as you reached the small crowd.

The two girls trailed after you as you skirted around the swarm of over-excited teens to come up behind Colby.

“Colby.” You called, tapping him on the shoulder lightly. Colby turned around at the sound of his name, his smile growing brighter as his eyes met yours.

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked.

“This is Hope and Lottie, they’re fans of you and Sam. Lottie was a little scared about coming over to say hi, so I thought I’d bring them over.” You motioned to the two girls standing at your side, your heart melting as you saw Lottie staring up at Colby in awe.

“Hi guys!” Colby greeted the girls, kneeling down so he wasn’t towering over them.

“Lottie? Was it?” He asked the younger girl, who nodded her head shyly as she grasped onto Hope’s t-shirt.

“Can I get a hug, Lottie?” Colby questioned carefully, and you could tell he was not trying to scare her further. Lottie looked up at Hope for guidance, shifting away as the older girl nodded her head encouragingly. Lottie’s big brown eyes then found mine, still looking uncertain. I smiled as I also nodded at her, mouthing ‘it’s okay.’ at her. It seemed to take a moment for Lottie to muster up the courage to move towards Colby, and I turned to look at Colby who was also looking up at me, a soft look on his face.

I smiled awkwardly at him, but he was soon distracted by Lottie falling into his open arms. My smile soon turned more genuine as I watched him gather up the small girl in a soft hug, his size dwarfing hers.

The hug ended after a few seconds, and Lottie pulled away with a huge toothy grin on her face. She turned and pointed to her sister. “This is Hope, my big sister.” She said timidly to Colby.

“Hi Hope.” He stood and also gave Hope a short hug.

“Hi! We’ve been fans of you and Sam for years.” Hope replied.

“Aw thanks guys!”

“We’re from Kansas too!” Lottie added happily, and you were glad that she seemed to have found some confidence from somewhere.

“Really? That’s cool. Do you live in L.A now?” Colby questioned.

“Yeah! Our dad got a job out here, so we moved out here five years ago.” Hope explained.

“Ah, did you want to get a picture and meet Sam and Kat?” He then asked.

“Yes please!” Lottie nodded enthusiastically.

I retreated again as Colby took the girls over to where Sam and Kat were talking to the rest of the fans. I was impressed of how well they seemed to treat their fans, as even from afar I could see that they gave their full attention to each fan.

I busied myself by scrolling through my phone, replying to texts from my mom and friends as I waited.

After ten minutes I felt a gentle tugging on my top, looking down I saw Lottie at my side with Hope standing behind her. Glancing up briefly I saw that most of the fans had left as there were only three kids now standing with Sam, Colby and Kat.

“Hey guys.” You said to the two girls.

“Y/N?” Lottie asked shyly.

“Yeah?”

“Can we.. Can I…” Lottie was stuttering, and I gently cut her off.

“What do you need, sweetie?”

“Can I get a picture with you?” She rushed out quickly.

“Oh- uhhh… I’m not on YouTube or anything.” I brushed a hand through my hair awkwardly, uncomfortable with the attention.

“Lottie, she’s not famous.” Hope tried.

Lottie whispered something into Hope’s ear, and the older girl met my gaze once she’d finished. “She says she wants a photo with you because you were nice to us.” She explained.

“Okay… Well, then.. Yeah, I guess I could do that.” With Lottie staring up at me with a human version of the puppy-dog eyes, I didn’t have the heart to say no.

“Yay!” Lottie squealed.

“Here, I’ll take the photo.” I offered my hand out to take the phone I could see in Hope’s grasp.

Hope unlocked the photo and opened the camera before handing it to me. Bending down so I was closer to the girl’s height, they crowded in close so I could take the photo. I snapped a few before giving the photo back.

“Are those okay?” I asked Hope.

“Let me see! Let me see!” Lottie yelled as she jumped up and down at her sister’s side, who turned the phone so the younger girl had view of the phone.

“Do you like them?” I questioned again as they scrolled through the photos.

“Yeah, they’re great, thank you!” Hope replied.

“No problem.”

“Girls, we’ve got to go!” I turned to see the girl’s mother standing behind me.

“Bye Y/N!” I felt arms wrap around my waist and I gazed down to see Lottie hugging me.

“Bye guys! It was nice to meet you both!” I said as I lay an arm over Lottie’s shoulders and squeezed briefly before she let go.

I waved the girls off as they walked away, smiling as Lottie looked back every couple of meters to wave back enthusiastically.

“Got your own fan club already, I see.” A voice coming from behind me made me startle slightly, and I gazed back to see Colby with a cheeky smile on his face.

“Lottie wanted a photo because I helped them.” I explained.

Colby opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Sam who joined us with Kat.

“Hey guys. Ready to go?” The blonde asked.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Colby replied.

We continued to walk down towards the beach.

“So how was your first fan encounter, Y/N?” Sam asked as he held out a hand to Kat to help her over a small wall to the sand.

“Not going to lie it was a bit scary at first.” I admitted, before asking “Does that happen to you guys often?”

“Yeah, kinda. We’re not usually swamped by as many fans as that unless we’re at an event though.” Colby explained.

15 minutes later we were settled on the beach, Sam and Colby had made us walk a bit further down the beach to a more secluded area, to which I was grateful for as I wasn’t sure if I was quite ready to get swarmed by fans again. The four of you sat and relaxed for a bit before Sam and Colby offered to go get drinks and snacks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Colby’s POV**

“What was going on with Y/N and those two girls earlier?” Sam asked me as we were on the way back to the girls.

“Oh... The younger girl was too scared about approaching us. Y/N must’ve overheard and bought them over to help.” I told him.

“That was very cool of her.” Sam commented.

“Yeah it was.” I said, trying to hide a smile.

“You like her.” Sam smiled widely at me.

“No, I-” I started, before huffing out a breath “I don’t know. It’s too early to tell, really, but… She’s just different to the usual L.A. girls, you know? She’s normal… Down to earth… She doesn’t seem to care about the fame or whatever.” I explained.

“She would be good for you. I’ve noticed how happy you are around her.”

I came to stop. “Sam… I can’t. What about the fans?” Sam looked at me confused for a brief moment, before understanding what I was getting at.

Sam sighed. “You’re going to get a girlfriend eventually, Colby. Your fans need to accept that.”

“I know… I just don’t want to see her getting hurt.” I admitted.

“So you have thought about being with her.” Sam concluded.

“Yeah… But…” I trailed off.

“Hey, it’s alright.” Sam patted me on the shoulder in comfort. “Just don’t let those fears ruin something good though, okay?” He added.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Reader’s POV**

“You and Colby seem to get on really well.” Kat said.

“Yeah… It’s kinda weird.. It’s like our friendship has just picked up from where we left it all those years ago. He’s not changed at all since I knew him.” I explained.

“He’s a really good guy.” Kat replied with a fond smile.

“He is.” I agreed, before asking “How did you meet them?”

“Well, I actually spoke to Colby first out of the two of them.” She told me.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but it was only in a platonic way. I met them at a show, and Colby was really nice and talkative, while Sam was a bit grumpy, so I spoke to Colby more at the beginning.”

“So how did you get with Sam?” I asked.

“One night I texted Colby to invite him to a party, and he was going to drive us all, so me and friends went over to their apartment. But Colby’s car broke down, so we ended up just hanging out in their apartment. That’s when I got to speak to Sam more, and well… It kind of went from there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Sam and Kat might be conspiring to get Colby and the reader together, so let’s see how that goes!
> 
> Let me know if anyone actually wants me to continue with this story instead of one of my other ones. :)


	13. Night Out Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope everyone's doing okay!
> 
> I ended up splitting this chapter in half as it probably would've ended up over 3000 words, which is usually two chapters for me anyway. I'm working on the next chapter next so I'll try get it up over the next couple of days.
> 
> If you like Brennen you might want to skip the end of this chapter. I haven't painted his character in the nicest way in this chapter, but remember that it's just for the purpose of the story. Don't come at me, haha! :)
> 
> Warning: Some cursing in this chapter.

“I think I got sunburnt.” Colby complained as he followed you into his apartment. You had spent all day at the beach, before going to get dinner at Tender Greens upon Colby’s insistence.

“I told you to put on sunscreen.” You reminded him.

“Sorry mom.” He whined, before pulling his tongue out at you.

“How have you survived out here on your own for so long?” You asked while giggling at his childish behaviour.

“I’ve had Sam to look out for me, he’s worse than my mom for worrying sometimes.” He explained, making you laugh harder.

“That’s because he knows about all the stupid shit I’m sure you get yourself into.” You quipped back.

“You’re not wrong there.” Colby snickered, before adding “hey, my friend Brennen has asked if we want to go out with Kevin and Aryia tonight.”

“Yeah, I’m down. I probably won’t drink a lot though.” You replied

Colby stared at you for a moment, like he was trying to figure something out. “We don’t have to go if drinking’s not your thing.” He said.

“No, it’s fine. I just…” You sighed as you thought about how honest you wanted to be with him.

“Just what?” He pushed, his eyes boring into yours. His gaze reminded you of who he was, _it was Colby_ , and the years that the two of you had spent sharing secrets meant that you could tell him anything, even after all this time apart.

“I’ve kind of had a bad history with alcohol. I’ve been sober for about a year now, apart from those drinks that I had when I hung out with you and your friends back in Kansas.” You explained, averting your eyes to the floor to avoid any judgement. You knew Colby wouldn’t judge, but looking away was a habit of yours when it came to telling people about your past.

“I hope you didn’t feel pressured to drink because of us.” You looked up when he said that, and he gave you a small smile.

“No, it wasn’t like that. I feel like I would be able to stop myself now, especially with being away from my ex-boyfriend, he used to be the one to force it on me most of the time.” You told him.

Colby’s smile turned to a scowl. “I don’t like the sound of this guy.” There was poorly concealed heat and anger behind Colby’s statement, and you blushed at his apparent protectiveness.

“You’d be right not to. He wasn’t a very nice person, it just took me a while to realise that.” You grimaced.

“I want to go out tonight, Colby. I can still go out and have fun without drinking.” You then said.

“Okay.” He looked like he wanted to talk more, ask more, but you were glad that he let it lie for now.

“Have I met your friend? Brennen, was it?” You questioned, trying to divert the subject.

“Yeah, Brennen. No, you haven’t. He’s…” He trailed off for a moment. “A little eccentric, but he’s one of my closest friends. Kevin and Aryia will be there too, you remember them, right?”

“Yeah!” You were happy that the two were also coming, as it would be nice to see them again.

“What time are we going out?” You asked.

“Umm… about 9?”

“Crap, I need to start getting ready. I need to take a shower.” You cursed as you checked the time, seeing that you had about two hours to get ready.

“Alright, you hop in the shower first.” Colby said to you as he moved to the sofa, pulling out his phone on the way, presumably to text Brennen back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You sighed as you sat on Colby’s sofa, waiting for him to get ready. You had taken the time to check in with your mom, but now sat fiddling your phone.

You glanced up at the sound of a door opening, and out stepped Colby. He was dressed in a black ripped t-shirt and jeans, and a black jacket with white patterns and symbols on. His style was nothing like you’d ever seen in Kansas, and you couldn’t help but admire it. However, you also felt slightly undressed in your simple black dress and denim jacket, even compared to his ripped jeans and top.

You stood up, confused as Colby stopped as he spotted you, his mouth dropping open slightly.

“What? Do I look okay?” You asked, feeling very self-conscious as you fidgeted with your jacket.

“Yes, you look amazing!” Colby complimented you with a soft smile.

“Thank you.” _Great, now you were blushing_. “You don’t look too bad yourself. Although, I was hoping you would considering you took longer than me to get ready.” You joked.

“What?! No I did not!” He argued.

“Yes, you did! I’ve been waiting for you for like… 30 minutes!”

Colby scoffed and waved you off with a laugh.

“Where are we meeting with your friend?”

“Oh… A club up town. Knowing Brennen he’s already out… and really drunk also. I’ll text him when we get there.” He spoke, when he received a text.

“Great! Our Uber’s here! I ordered it while we were getting ready.” He said as he read the text.

“Awesome. Let’s go!” You replied enthusiastically, excited to have a night out in L.A.

You grabbed your purse before following Colby to the door. He opened it and stepped back to hold it for you. “After you m’lady.” He joked.

“Thank you kind sir!” You curtsied to him whilst walking out of the door, and he giggled as he trailed after you.

“Would Sam not want to come out with us?” You asked as you passed by the blonde’s door.

“Nah, he’s tried to cut back on partying since we moved out of the Traphouse. It’s just some of the single boys tonight.” Colby told you. “Welcome to the club.” He continued after a moment, his tone deadpan.

“Thanks… I think. I’m sure not if it’s a club I want to be a part of, though.” You laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“There he is!” Colby spotted his friend as soon as the two of you entered the club. “Brennen!” He shouted as you approached him, gaining the attention of Brennen.

“Colby!” Brennen yelled excitedly as he pushed passed some people to get to his friend. The two guys met with a hug and a pat on the back.

They eventually pulled away and Colby turned to you.

“Brennen, this is Y/N.” He introduced, and Brennen also looked at you.

“Woah… I now know why Colby wouldn’t shut up about you over the past month.” Brennen commented, and you noticed he was looking you up and down in a way that you didn’t like.

“Brennen…” Colby cut in almost warningly.

“What?! It’s true brother!” Brennen laughed, nudging Colby with his elbow who rubbed at the back of his neck as he sent an apologetic look your way.

“Nice to meet you too!” You said sarcastically, smiling as Brennen’s grin dropped slightly.

“Sorry. Nice to meet you.” Brennen replied, but you could hear the snark behind his voice.

You regarded him with narrowed eyes, wondering why Colby was friends with him.

It went quiet between the three of you, and you bit your tongue when you realised Brennen was still checking you out.

“Alright awkward.” You muttered as you cringed at Brennen’s obvious leering. The drunken obnoxious guys were definitely one thing you didn’t miss from your partying days. Unfortunately you still had to encounter it whilst working your shift at the bar back home, but at least you had the power to threaten to kick them out which usually made them back off.

“Hey guys!” You heard to your left and you turned to see Kevin and Aryia walking up to you.

“What’s up dudes!” Colby greeted cheeringly as he moved forward to give them both hugs.

“Y/N! It’s good to see you again!” Kevin said happily as he saw you, and you were soon also gathered up in a hug.

“Hi! You too Kevin!” You squeezed him briefly before pulling away.

“Hey Aryia.” You smiled and waved at Aryia, he was obviously more reserved than Kevin.

“Hey.” He grinned back.

“I’ll get the first round of shots in!” Brennen interrupted loudly, tugging on Colby’s arm.

“None for me thank you Brennen.” You told him.

“What?! We need to show you how we party out there!” His tone was incredulous and he eyed you weirdly.

“Brennen, she doesn’t want any, she-” Colby started.

“I’m not drinking tonight, but thank you though.” I cut him off, my tone clipped. I appreciated Colby stepping in for me, but I could speak for myself.

“Whatever! Come on Colbs!” Brennen scoffed as he began to drag Colby towards the bar.

Colby looked at you with an uncertain look in his eyes, and you figured he probably felt bad for leaving you.

“Go.” I mouthed whilst smiling at him. Kevin and Aryia seemed nice enough, so I didn’t mind hanging with them while he kept Brennen entertained.

I watched as Kevin grabbed Colby’s shoulder as he was pulled passed and whispered something into his ear. Colby looked at me briefly before smiling and nodding at Kevin, clapping him on the arm as he was dragged away.

“Don’t worry, he’ll grow on you eventually.” You glanced to your left as you registered that Aryia had spoken.

“What?” You questioned.

“Brennen. I know he seems like a massive dick but he’s alright when he’s less buzzed.” He explained.

“Okay.” You said, they were nice people, so you trusted their judgement.

“Let’s go find somewhere to sit, shall we?” Kevin suggested, and you nodded in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)


	14. Night Out Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written at just over 2300 words! :O However, saying that I feel like it's a little all over the place and it switches POVs a lot so pay attention to that otherwise it might be confusing, lol! I haven't proof read this chapter so apologies for any spelling or grammatical errors!
> 
> There is some cursing in this chapter, and talk of past alcohol abuse.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

**Colby’s POV**

I felt anger pulsing in me as I stared at the back of Brennen’s head as I grudgingly followed him to the bar. I didn’t like the way he spoke to Y/N back there, and it kind of killed my mood for tonight. I honestly wanted to ditch him and hang out with Kevin, Aryia and Y/N for the rest of the night.

“Dude, can you be a little less obnoxious around Y/N?” I asked Brennen as we made it to the bar.

“Colby-” Brennen started, but I cut him off.

“You were acting like a dick to Y/N back there. She’s a Kansas girl, Brennen, she won’t stand for that arrogant bullshit.” I gave him a serious look, hoping to get through to him that I wasn’t joking around.

“Alright, fine…” Brennen said sheepishly. “Sorry man.” He apologised, which I was surprised at as he usually wasn’t one for saying sorry.

“It’s alright, man.” I sighed, deciding to forgive him for now, his apology wasn’t really mine to forgive anyway.

“She already has you whipped, huh?” Brennen joked.

“Brennen.” I said warningly, scowling at him.

“What?! I’ve never seen you fall this hard before.” He laughed.

“Whatever.” I scoffed, and Brennen’s smile dropped when he realised I was getting angry again.

“Have you told her that you like her yet?” He asked.

“No, I don’t want to make things weird between us.” I replied.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I don’t even know if she likes me back, and I’ve known her since we were practically babies. I…” I trailed off.

“What?” Brennen pushed.

“I’ve never had these feelings for her before. I don’t want to ruin our friendship, or let the fans scare her away.” I admitted honestly.

“I think you’re making it a lot more complicated than it needs to be, brother.” Brennen said whilst patting me on the back.

“Maybe you’re right.” I let out a small laugh as I tried to signal down a bartender.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Reader’s POV**

“Why aren’t you drinking tonight?” The question came from Aryia after Kevin had also left to get a drink, and I turned to look at him. “If you don’t mind me asking of course.” He added hastily as he realised he was probably over-stepping.

“No it’s okay, it’s just not really my thing anymore.” I answered vaguely whilst looking away, hoping he’d drop it. However, his response made my eyes cut back to him instantly.

“Me neither.”

“You…?” I stopped as I wasn’t sure how to phrase the question.

“8 months sober.” He answered honestly.

“That’s amazing!” I was in awe of his resilience, but it also made me feel bad about caving.

“What about you?” He queried.

“Trying to work on drinking in moderation, I guess.” I chuckled.

“That’s just as admirable. The most important thing is realising that you needed to change.” You smiled at his encouraging statement, it made you feel a lot better.

There was a lull between us, so I decided to change the subject.

“Are you a YouTuber too?” I asked him.

“I make videos, yeah, but my main focus in music.” He explained.

“You make your own music?” I questioned intrigued.

“Yeah. What about you?”

“Oh, uhhh.. I work two jobs back in Kansas, in a grocery store and a bar. I’m trying to save up to do some more traveling.” I responded.

You ended up speaking with Aryia for most of the night, he spotted Colby and Brennen on the dance floor every now and again, and Kevin came and went, each time returning a little more drunk than the last, however it made for good entertainment.

Aryia spoke a lot about himself and the friend group, and you were happy to learn more about them all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Kevin’s POV**

“Damn, I feel like a damn fifth wheel tonight!” I huffed as I walked up to Brennen and Colby, who were giggling drunkenly about something.

“What do you mean?” Colby laughed, smiling widely with glazed over eyes.

“You and Brennen are over here Brolby-ing it up. While Y/N and Aryia are over there having deep conversations and making googly eyes at each other!” I responded.

“They are?” Colby seemed to sober for a moment, his smile dimming as he looked across the bar to where Aryia and Y/N were sitting.

“Colby, go get your girl, bro.” Brennen laughed as he pushed Colby lightly.

“She’s not my girl.” Colby grumbled as he glared at Brennen, shoving him back.

“But you want her to be!” Brennen spoke loudly, before continuing “dude, get in there before she starts cosying up to Aryia even more.”

“Colby, I had no idea, man. Do you want me to tell Aryia to lay off?” I asked.

“No, it’s not like she’s my girlfriend or anything. Besides, if she wants to talk to Aryia then she can.” Colby directed his frown back towards the two sitting in the corner of the bar, staring for a moment. “Come on Bren, let’s go get some more drinks!” The enthusiasm in his voice was too forced, and I tried to get a peak of his face to gage what he was feeling, but he turned and was stalking off towards the bar before I had the chance.

Brennen and I shared a look, before Brennen sighed and went to race after Colby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I decided to return to Aryia and Y/N, but she wasn’t there when I got back to the table.

“Where’s Y/N?” I asked as I took the empty seat opposite my best friend.

“Oh, she’s just gone to the toilet.” Aryia answered.

I thought about Colby’s reaction a minute ago, and decided I had to say something.

“Hey, you might want to back off Y/N.” I said carefully.

“What? Why?” Aryia’s eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“Because Colby was glaring daggers when I told him that the two of you were getting close earlier.” I explained.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” I sighed, I hated to do this to Aryia if he liked her as well, but it was basic bro code not to go after a girl if you know that your friend likes her.

“Alright man, I’ll back off.” Aryia replied understandably, and I was glad that he was such a good friend, otherwise this may have ended badly.

Y/N returned a few minutes later, and I decided to sit and chat with her for a while. One of my boys were hopefully going to end up with her, whether it be Colby or Aryia, so as cringey as it sounded as the dad of the friend group I figured I should make an effort to welcome her in and get to know her more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Reader’s POV**

I startled as I felt arms wrapped about my shoulders from behind me, before a weight rested on the top of my head.

“Y/N…” I couldn’t help but smile at the familiar voice, and I saw Aryia and Kevin laughing.

“Hey Colbs.” I spoke softly as I reached up to stroke his arm gently.

I pulled away so I could turn to look up at him, when I realised that he must’ve been resting his head on top of mine as he was pulling himself to stand up straight.

“Hey…” Colby murmured as he gazed into my eyes for a moment, before he started giggling like a schoolgirl.

“I think you’re ready to go home.” I laughed as I reached out to try to steady him as he stumbled slightly.

“Hmm… No it’s still early.” Colby objected.

“Colby, it’s…” I trailed off as I checked the time on my phone. “..2am! I think you’re done.” Colby didn’t argue back again, instead he just swayed on his feet and I stood as I was worried he was going to fall. “Here Colbs.. Sit down.” I gently pushed him down into the chair that I was just sitting in. I went to shift away to give him more space, however a hand grasping my wrist stopped me. I looked down at the hand, before following the arm up to stare at Colby.

“C’mere.” He spoke softly, and pulled on my wrist before I could ask what he meant.

“Woah. Colby!” I exclaimed as he threw me off balance, and I ended up sitting sideways in his lap.

For someone who was heavily under the influence I was surprised at his co-ordination as he somehow managed to catch me around the waist in a hug, bringing me more onto his lap.

I blinked at him as I tried to figure out his intentions. He gave me a lob sided grin, and for a second I felt like I was back on that hill with him in Kansas.

“Hey guys.” I heard, and Colby and I both turned to look at the two other people that was sitting at the table with us. I felt my cheeks heat up as I realised that they had both obviously just watched that interaction. “We’ll come with you in case you need help getting him home.” Kevin spoke coolly, and I was glad that he didn’t seem to miss a beat.

“I’ll order an Uber.” Aryia added, pulling out his phone.

“What about Brennen?” I asked, as much as I hoped that he wouldn’t be leaving with us, you don’t leave friends without saying goodbye at least.

“I’ll go tell him we’re going, but he’ll probably go meet up with other friends.” Kevin said as he went off to find Brennen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**_An hour later…_ **

“Can you check his pockets for the keys?” Aryia asked me as we reached the door to Colby’s apartment. He and Kevin had Colby between them, one of his arms over each of their shoulders, while Colby blinked blearily. Apparently the fresh air from the bar to the Uber, and from the Uber to the apartment building had increased the effect of the alcohol. He looked like he was seconds away from passing out.

Patting his jean pockets I managed to find the keys and fish them out. I quietly unlocked the door, flicking the lights on before I shifted out of the way so Kevin and Aryia could drag Colby in.

“Where should we put him?”

“Uhhh… The bedroom.” I informed them, using it as a way to let Colby have his bedroom back for a night.

Following after the three, I watched as Kevin pulled the sheets off before they gently placed Colby onto the mattress. I smiled as they even went as far as pulling Colby’s jacket and shoes off of him to make him more comfortable, _they’re good friends._

“Thanks guys! I think I got it from here.” I said as they finally moved away from the form on the bed.

“Alright.” Kevin agreed, and you went with them to the door to make sure that it was all locked up after saying goodbye.

Returning to the bedroom to check on Colby one last time before going to crash on the sofa, I padded over to cover him with the sheet.

“Goodnight Colbs.” I whispered softly to him, smiling as I realised that his baby face like features showed up more when relaxed. He looked more like the boy you had to leave behind when you were 15.

I turned to leave the room when I heard slurred words.

“Wait… Y/N. Don’t go.” Glancing down I saw that Colby was blinking sleepily up at me.

“Colby, I’ll sleep on the sofa.” I explained.

“Sleep here.” He grumbled.

“Colby, I’m not sleeping with you.” I knew Colby wasn’t like that, but I felt like I still had to tell him where we stood on the fooling around whilst he was drunk thing.

“No! Just… Come here.” He relented.

“Let me change into my pyjamas first.” I said, walking away to collect my pyjamas from my suitcase before he had the chance to say anything else. Using his bathroom to get changed, I hoped that he would be out by the time I was finished. I didn’t want us doing something that we’d regret tomorrow.

“Y/N…” I cursed as I heard his voice as soon as I left the bathroom.

“Colby.” I sighed, stepping closer to the bed.

“I just… wanna cuddle.” He mumbled, and my heart melted at the confession.

“Fine.” I groaned, before climbing into the other side of the bed.

He shifted onto his side and reached for me with one arm. I soon found myself cuddled into him, and I snuggled into his chest enjoying the warmth.

Strangely it wasn’t uncomfortable, however it’s not like it was the first time I’ve ever shared a bed or been this close with Colby. I remembered when I had sleepovers with him when we were kids, although we were told to sleep top to tail back then. I then remembered a time when we were a bit older; a time when Colby was a typical lazy teenager, and would take a nap on your bed after school while I sat by him doing my homework. I never told him but sometimes whilst napping he would worm his arm over me in some way and snuggle into me, a lot similar to what he had just done. It didn’t stop me from teasing Colby about how much he loved hugs though, and I wondered if he would still deny it as adamantly as he did back then. He seemed more comfortable in his skin now, and I figured it was because of a mixture of everything he and Sam had done to get to where they were now, and also moving away from Kansas.

“I really missed having you around, Y/N.” He said softly after a moment, and I smiled into his t-shirt.

“I missed you too, Colbs.” I admitted honestly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)


	15. Hangover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam walks in on the reader and Colby in bed together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slow chapter today, but the next chapter will definitely be a bit more interesting. :)

**Reader’s POV**

I opened my eyes to the sound of soft knocking, barely awake enough to realise what was going on before I heard a door opening.

“Colby?” A familiar voice asked softly, and I looked up to see Sam standing in the doorway. His eyes widened when our eyes met. “Oh shit, sorry!” He exclaimed, before rushing out of the room with the door swinging shut after him.

“Sam?” I called as I blinked sleepily, trying to figure out why he had acted the way he had. Shifting to sit up, I felt a weight across my waist and I looked down to see an arm laying over me. Following the arm up I came to Colby’s soft features, relaxed in his slumber.

I groaned when I remembered the night before. It probably wasn’t the best idea to curl up in bed with him when he was so out of it last night, but he had been so persistent and I had been too tired to argue, and besides it was only a bit of innocent snuggling.

Glancing back at the door, I now understood why Sam had left so quickly. He must’ve thought that Colby and I had been sleeping together.

“Colby.” I nudged the brunette, pushing his arm off me gently. I wanted him awake so he could help me explain to Sam that nothing had happened.

“ _Not like there’s anything wrong with it, but I don’t want his friends assuming stuff that wasn’t true_.” I thought.

“Colby.” I shook him again, but he didn’t move. I sighed, before slipping out of his bed. Colby used to be hard to wake when we were 13, so I can imagine he’s unmoveable when exhausted and hungover.

Grabbing Colby’s borrowed hoodie along the way, I pulled it on to cover my vest top and shorts so I wasn’t basically half naked.

Pulling open the bedroom door, I found Sam sitting on Colby’s sofa, looking down and playing with his fingers awkwardly.

“Good morning…” I said and his eyes shot up.

“Hey.” He replied awkwardly, before continuing “listen, I’m sorry for-”

“It’s okay, we weren’t doing anything.” I interrupted him.

“Obviously, but-”

“No. I mean… We didn’t do anything last night either.” I cut him off again.

“I don’t care if you were, you know? You and Colby are adults.”

“I’m being serious. Colby was really drunk and… He just wanted to cuddle.” There was an immediate sparkle in Sam’s eyes, and a small amused smile grew on his face.

“Don’t you dare tell him I told you that!” I said seriously, pointing a warning finger at him.

“I won’t… But I’m not surprised honestly. He tries to hide it but he’s a big softie at heart.” Sam laughed.

“Yeah, he is.” I agreed with soft smile.

“Did you have fun last night?” Sam then asked, previous conversation seemingly forgotten. I was glad that Sam appeared to be very mature for his age, as I knew other guys that would relentlessly tease their friends about anything hinting towards being a bit sensitive.

“Yeah, actually, it was a lot of fun. I ended up speak with Aryia a lot, he’s really nice.” I answered.

“He is.” Sam nodded. “Where was Colby?”

“He was getting drunk with Brennen.” I explained with a grimace as I remembered my exchange with Brennen last night.

“Brennen’s a bit of an ass.” I found myself blurting out.

“Yeah… I didn’t like him that much at first either.” Sam’s response surprised me.

“You didn’t?” I questioned.

“No, me and Colby met him when our own relationship was suffering from all the stress that came from being in each other’s pockets 24/7. Colby started to spend a lot of time with him while I did the same with Kat. I guess a lot of jealously and hostility came from that because Colby seemed to get on with him so well when I didn’t. Plus Brennen and I are so different, so I think it naturally led to us not getting along so well.”

“You’re okay with him now though, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, we talked about it a lot, both on and off camera. Brennen’s… Not for everyone to say the least, but he’s been a good friend to Colby, and I respect him for that.” It seems like Sam tried to work things out with Brennen for Colby, and I admired him for that.

“ _I suppose I should also try to get along with him for Colby’s sake, but as long as he tones down his douchebag-iness._ ” I decided.

“I came over to ask if you and Colby wanted to join Kat and I for breakfast.” Sam told me.

“I don’t think Colby’s moving anytime soon.”

“You can still come with us if you like? We can bring something back for Colby.”

“Should I go wake him?” Although they seemed like nice people, I still didn’t know them that well and I always felt a bit nervous around new people.

“Nah, you probably know how grumpy he gets when he doesn’t get enough sleep.” I laughed at that.

I figured I should let Colby sleep, but I didn’t really want to sit in his apartment alone while I waited for him to wake up. My stomach then rumbled, and I took it as my body answering for me.

“I think I will join you guys. Just give me like 10 minutes to get ready?” I smiled.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go down to see if Jake’s up while you get ready.” I returned to the bedroom as Sam left, and I smiled and shook my head when I noticed that Colby didn’t even budge an inch at the sound of me rummaging through my bag for clothes.

I quickly went to the bathroom to change, brush my teeth and wash my face before I went back out to the living room.

I was putting on my shoes when there was a knock on the front door, and I opened it to reveal Sam, Kat, Jake and Tara.

“Hey! Ready to go?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, let’s go!” I replied as I grabbed my bag.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’ll get Colby up and then we’ll come over.” I told Sam, and I juggled Colby’s food whilst trying to open his door.

“Okay, see you in a bit!” Sam replied as he followed the other three into his apartment.

I was glad I had gone for breakfast with them, and I felt silly for worrying about spending time with them by myself as they were probably the most welcoming and friendly people that I had met. They had made sure to include me in their conversations and taken interest in my life. Kat and Tara had even invited me on a girl’s trip in a couple of days as all the boys were going to be filming videos all day.

I had just set down Colby’s food on the counter when he stepped out of his bedroom.

“Good morning.” He greeted me, and I found myself doing a double-take when I noticed that he didn’t have a shirt on.

I had to look away to stop myself from staring. Colby was obviously no longer the lanky, thin 14 year-old that I remember, but his tanned chest, abs and tattoos caught me a little off guard.

“ _He looks good. Beautiful even._ ” I felt my cheeks heat up as I blushed a little, trying to get myself under control.

“Good afternoon.” I tried to recover quickly, but my voice came out choked.

“I bought you food.” I added quickly in hopes that he wouldn’t notice.

If he did, he didn’t say anything. Instead he just laughed and thanked me for the food.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“A little rough.” He groaned, and I giggled.

“Sam invited us over to his if you’re up for it.” I informed him.

“Ah okay.”

I moved over to the sofa while Colby emptied the English breakfast I had got him on to a plate.

My phone rang as I flopped down, and I pulled it out of my pocket to answer it.

“Hey mom!” I greeted her.

“Hey sweetie, are you having a nice time in L.A?”

“Yeah, it’s been amazing so far.” I replied as Colby walked over and sat down next to me.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and covered the microphone.

“Do you want to say hi to my mom?” I asked him, and he nodded so I put the phone on speaker.

“Mom, Colby’s here.” I explained.

“Hi Mrs. Y/L/N!” Colby spoke as he cut into a sausage on his plate.

“Hello Colby, dear! How are you? I hope you’re taking good care of my daughter.” My mom said sweetly.

“Mom…” I groaned.

Colby took it in stride though, and I could tell he was turning on the charm to make a good impression. “Of course ma’am! I’m doing great thank you, how about you and Mr. Y/L/N?”

“That’s good. We’re doing fine, thank you sweetie. I saw your mom at the store yesterday.” I shared a look with Colby. Our mothers had been great friends when we were younger, but the friendship seemed to fizzle out after Colby and I had stopped hanging out.

“She said she missed her baby a lot, but was very proud of you. You do need to call her more often though, dear.”

“I will ma’am.” Colby promised.

I told her about the beach yesterday, and about going to get breakfast with Colby’s friends this morning. However I decided to leave out the night out, not wanting her to worry about nothing.

“Well, I’ll leave you two kids to enjoy the rest of your day.”

“Okay mom! I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Bye honey. Bye Colby.”

“Bye!” Colby and I replied in unison, before I hung up.

I went through messages on my phone while Colby finished his food.

“Hey I was thinking… Do you want to go on a late night adventure tonight?” Colby asked.

“What do you have in mind?”

“We should go explore an abandoned building.” Colby replied, and I frowned.

“Isn’t that kind of dangerous seeing as that’s what you got arrested for?” I questioned.

“Yeah, but I know a few places where there’s no security or anything.” Colby responded.

“Okay…” I thought about it for a moment. “Well I’m down then.” I spoke, thinking it’d be fun to see what Colby used to do for videos.

“Alright, cool!” Colby smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!


	16. Exploration Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colby and the reader go exploring.

**Colby’s POV**

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Y/N as I watched her peer out of the window at the dense, dark forest around us.

She turned to look at me with an uncertain look. “No.” She answered honestly with a small shake of her head.

She glanced back outside, before her eyes met mine again. “But we’ve come all this way so… Let’s go!” She said surely as she opened her door and climbed out of the car.

I smiled as I followed after her. She was a tough girl, and I loved that about her.

“Here, let’s grab some flashlights.” I said as I went to the trunk of my car. Opening the lid, I rummaged through the junk to find what I was looking for.

“Here.” I passed her one of the flashlights after clicking it on to make sure that it was working.

I smiled playfully when I saw the Ouija board sitting innocently in my trunk.

“Should we take this?” I asked jokingly, picking up the board to show her.

“No fucking way, Colby!” I laughed at her annoyed scowl when she realised what I was holding.

“I’m kidding.” I chuckled, putting the board back and closing the trunk. “Come on. It’s this way.” I told her as I shone my flashlight down a trail leading into the woods.

“I feel like we should have a giant talking Great Dane with us.” She commented as she fell into step behind me.

“Rut roh, Raggy!” I grinned as I heard her giggling at my Scooby Doo impression.

“It’s only about a ten minute walk from here, but there’s a few fences to hop on the way.” I explained.

“I thought you said that we wouldn’t be trespassing!” Turning around to face her, I found her frowning at me.

“In my defence I only said there wasn’t any security or anyone living around the area, not that we wouldn’t be trespassing.” I pointed out, holding my hands up defensively.

“If we get arrested I’m kicking your ass!” She threatened lowly, but I knew that there was no heat behind her words.

“Well you’ll be waiting for a long time because I’ll be in prison for a lot longer than you with my last charges.”

Worry flashed across her face at my statement, and I felt bad. Looking down, I reached out and took her hand in mine, giving it a tight squeeze. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.” I told her reassuringly.

“Okay.” She replied quietly, gripping my hand back with just as much pressure.

My heart softened at her trusting look, and I promised to myself that I would keep her safe.

Our hands didn’t break apart as we continued down the path.

“So what is this place again?” She asked me a little further down the trail.

“It’s an old abandoned church. It’s the only thing left of a really small village that used to be here.” I informed her.

“People lived all the way out here?” She questioned, gesturing to the trees surrounding us.

“Yeah! Apparently the people that used to live in the village were forced to leave after a fire burnt down all of the houses.” I explained.

“And the church stayed intact?”

“Weird, right? I don’t know how far away the church was from the other buildings, but it couldn’t have been that far.” I replied.

We spoke quietly as we trekked through the woods for a few more minutes until we reached a ten foot wire fence.

“Here, I’ll help you over.” I went to climb the fence first so I could lift her over, when she stopped me.

“I got it.” She stated confidently as she let go of my hand and passed me her flashlight.

I couldn’t help but watch in awe as she scaled the fence, carefully sticking her hands and feet in the holes in the fence to pull herself up.

“Woah, how did you do that?!” I exclaimed when she landed gracefully on the other side.

“I did gymnastics when I was younger, remember?” She laughed at me through the fence.

“Oh… Yeah.” I responded awkwardly, brushing a hand through my hair. I had to admit though, her stamina and agility was pretty hot.

“ _Cool it Colby, Jesus… She’s your friend, remember._ ” I tried to tell myself.

I was jolted out of my thoughts when one of the flashlights were pulled from my hands, and I glanced down to see her grabbing them and carefully manoeuvre her arms back through the holes in the fence.

“Come on slow poke.” She joked with a playful grin.

“Right.” I smiled back, sticking my tongue out at her childishly before I also climbed the fence.

We made quick of the next fence, and soon arrived at our destination.

Shining my light up at the old building in front of us. It hadn’t changed much since the last time I was here apart from more ivy that was slowly consuming the walls. 

“Wow, this is…” Looking to my right, I saw Y/N who was staring up at the ancient structure.

“Cool, right?” I asked.

“I was going to say creepy, but yeah... I guess it’s pretty cool.” She laughed nervously.

“Just be careful with where you’re standing. The wood is old so it might give way.” I warned her as I climbed the few stairs to the front door. She nodded, following after me.

I cringed at the noise of the door scraping across the floor as I tugged it open.

“I like this place because of how pristine it’s been left.” I said as I directed my flashlight to illuminate the stained glass on the opposite wall.

“What do you mean?” She questioned.

“Well, most of the other abandoned buildings have been vandalised and covered in graffiti.” I explained and she nodded in understanding.

Y/N walked down the centre aisle towards the simple wooden altar at the end, when she stopped at one of the pews. I walked over as she reached down to pick up something.

“Do you think it’s okay if I take this? My mom would find it interesting.” She questioned, and I peered over her shoulder curiously. There was a small, worn bible in her hand.

“I think so, yeah. It’s only going to lie here until this place finally falls down.” I nodded, and she carefully tucked it into the front pocket of her hoodie.

She then went over to the altar, and gazed up at the window above it.

“It’s kind of sad that something as beautiful as this has just been left abandoned.” She commented sadly as we inspected the detailed picture made out of the coloured glass.

I hummed in agreement.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs.” I told her, and lead her over to a rickety-looking wooden staircase.

“Are you sure those are safe?” She queried.

“They held me when Sam and I came up here last year, but I’ll go first just in case.” I took a few testing steps first, and breathed a sigh of relief when the steps seemed sturdier than they looked.

Y/N waited until I reached the top of the stairs before she followed.

We wandered around the room for a bit, looking at the little trinkets and furniture dotted around the room, before we came to a window.

I shone my light out of the glass, and noticed that we were just above the treeline and could the city lights off in the distance.

“I wonder what the view is like from up here. We’ll have to come back during the day some time.” Y/N mused.

“Yeah, for sure.” I agreed.

I sighed as a feeling that I had been ignoring since walking into the church became too much to brush off. Shuffling to one of the corners of the room, I unzipped my pants.

“What are you doing?” I heard Y/N ask behind me.

“I need to pee.”

“Colby! You can’t pee in here! It’s a church!” She admonished.

“I suppose you’re right!” I huffed out a laugh. “I’ll go outside.” I flashed a smile her way before going to rush down the stairs and outside.

Returning inside two minutes later, I climbed the stairs once again to join Y/N.

I found the room empty.

“Y/N?” I called out her name, but there was no response.

“Y/N, where are you?” I said a little louder, frowning as I started to worry.

Still no answer.

“ _What the fuck?_ ” I cursed inwardly.

I opened my mouth to yell her name again, when a scream echoed through the building that made me jump.

I froze in fear as my brain tried to process what was happening. However, the shout that followed had me bounding for the stairs again.

“Colby!”

“Y/N?!” I screamed her name back as I stumbled down the stairs in my panic to get to her.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, my eyes searched frantically for her.

I heard the sound of pounding footsteps, before she appeared in an open doorway near the entrance.

“Y/N!” I yelled when I saw the fear and panic on her face.

“Y/N WHAT-” I was cut off when she basically threw herself into my arms and wrapped her own around my waist. The force almost knocked me to the floor, and I took a step back to steady us.

Glancing down, I saw that she had her face hidden in my shirt which I then realised was dampening. My stomach dropped when I heard soft cries, and I immediately gathered her into a protective hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 will be uploaded later today! :) Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! <3


	17. Exploration Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the exploration.

**Reader’s POV**

The moment Colby left the atmosphere in the room changed, and I shivered as an eeriness set in.

Glancing back towards the stairs, I wished I had just let Colby pee in the corner of the room.

A few seconds passed, and the dark creepy feeling started to get too much.

Deciding to go down and wait for Colby, I quickly jogged down the stairs to the ground level. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs when I saw a door open by the entrance that definitely wasn’t open when we went upstairs. Going over, I peered down another staircase.

“Colby?” I called his name. I heard a faint response from below and the sound of shuffling.

“ _Why has he gone down there?_ ” I asked myself as I took hesitant steps down the stairs.

My nose wrinkled at the musty smell that hit me as I reached the last step.

“Colby?” I asked again, but I didn’t get an answer this time.

Instead there was only a scraping noise coming from behind some furniture stacked up on the far wall.

“Colby, you better not jump out at me!” I said warningly, because this was just like him. I remembered all the times he tried to jump scare me when we were at school.

“ _Okay, starting to get a little freaked out now…_ ” I thought when there was still no response.

“Colby?” I cringed as my voice wavered slightly as fear started to creep in.

Suddenly there was a slam, and a low voice growled from the corner of the room.

“ _Get out!_ ” The deep whisper echoed, and I startled when I realised that it wasn’t Colby’s voice. I screamed and turned my heels to book it back up the stairs.

“Colby!” I cried when I made it half way up.

“Y/N?!” I heard him yell from somewhere else in the building. I spotted him as soon as I reached the main area again, and I launched myself at him.

“Y/N! Y/N WHAT- ooff” I cut him off as I slammed into him, throwing my arms around his waist as I buried my head into his shoulder, tears wetting his shirt.

He wrapped his arms around me almost immediately, and I was pulled in gently against him.

“Y/N, what’s wrong? Are you okay?!” I felt his panicked questions reverberate in his chest next to my head, but I could only choke out more sobs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Colby’s POV**

I gripped her tighter when I felt her trembling as she cried harder. I had never seen her this upset before, and I hated it. I continued to hold her until there was no more tears, only quiet sniffs.

“Hey…” I murmured softly, pulling away I cupped her face between my palms. My heart clenched at her tear-streaked face, and I brushed my thumbs across her cheeks to brush them away gently.

“Y/N, What happened? Where were you?” I asked lowly.

“Can we just go please?” She replied shakily.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course. Come on.” Taking my hands from her face I offered one out for her to take. She stared at it for a moment, before shuffling closer and tucking herself into my side instead. Not that I minded at all as I threw my arm around her shoulders.

Her hands wound into my t-shirt along the way back to the car. I could tell how out of it she was feeling due to the fact that I had to help her climb over the fences this time. I wanted to ask so many questions, but she was being so quiet that I knew I had to let her talk in her own time.

We made it back to the car 15 minutes later.

I gazed at her after we had climbed into the car, wanting to say something to comfort her but not knowing what. I sighed as I turned to slide the key into the ignition.

“I-“ My eyes shot back to her when I heard her soft voice.

“I followed you downstairs because I didn’t want to be alone. I heard noises coming from the basement… I thought it was you so I went down there…” She explained, her tone haunted. “There was a bang and a voice... It told me to get out.” Wet eyes met mine, and I gawked at her for a moment as I processed what she had told me.

“Jesus… I’m so sorry, Y/N.” Leaning across I grasped her hand.

“It’s not your fault.” She told me adamantly, but I didn’t answer.

I felt like it was my fault. I took her to that place, and she wouldn’t be hurting like this if I hadn’t.

Her eyes softened, before she sighed and pulled her hand away. “Let’s just go, alright?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_An hour later…_

I followed after her into my bedroom to ask if she needed anything before we went to bed.

“Can you sleep in here tonight?” Unbeknownst to me, she repeated a similar request that I had the night before.

“Yeah, sure.” She nodded gratefully.

I slipped into a vest top and shorts while she changed in the bathroom, and we were soon laying facing each other on my bed. She had the hood of the hoodie that was once mine pulled up over her head, and I smiled at the koala ears.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

“Just a little shaken up I think.” She responded with a trembling breath.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now.” I reassured her softly which made her smile. She shifted so she was snuggled up into me and I flopped an arm over her.

“Are you okay?” I was glad that she couldn’t really see my face as I answered.

“When I heard you scream, I-” I shuddered at the thought, and Y/N must’ve felt it because she moved closer. “I thought that you were hurt.” I finished, and my arm unconsciously tightened around her waist.

“It’s okay. I’m okay, Colbs.” She soothed, before continuing “we’ll just have to make sure to stick together next time.”

I pulled away slightly to stare down in mild shock at the top of her head.

“What?! You want to go exploring again?” I asked incredulous.

“Yeah… I don’t want to go back to that place ever, but it was fun up to that point.”

I laughed and shook my head slightly. I couldn’t believe how strong she was.

However, it also made me fearful. I was going to have to do better in looking out for her next time. I won’t let her out of my sight.

I don’t know why I feel so protective over her, although I felt the same about the girls in my friend group, especially Kat and Devyn. However it was more like a big brother protectiveness with them, it was different with Y/N… More intense.

“ _Maybe it’s just because I’ve known her for longer._ ” I mused.

Or maybe it was something more.

I remembered the conversation I had with Sam at the beach, and the similar one I had with Brennen at the bar last night. They both wanted me to act on my feelings for her, but they didn’t understand. Neither of them knew what it was like to have fans constantly commenting on every single relationship they had with a girl. I thought back to how well the fans had accepted Kat when Sam had introduced her as his girlfriend.

“ _Why couldn’t they do the same for me? Don’t they want me to be happy?_ ” I asked myself miserably.

In the end it would all come down to whether she even felt the same way about me, and whether we thought it was worth getting the backlash.

Glancing down I noticed that she wasn’t moving and was breathing heavily. I murmured her name softly, and deduced that she had fallen asleep when I didn’t get an answer.

I scooted closer so her head was tucked under my chin, and closed my eyes. It felt so _right_ to have her in my arms like this. I soon fell asleep with a smile on my face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of both parts of the exploration! :)


	18. Good Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader spends the day with Colby and his friends, and starts to think about her relationship with Colby.

**Reader’s POV**

I was woken by the sound of loud talking coming from outside of the room. Looking around the room, I found the other side of the bed empty and wondered how Colby could’ve slipped out of bed without waking me as I was usually a light sleeper.

“ _I must’ve been exhausted after last night!”_ I thought as I climbed out of bed.

“Are you serious!?” A voice exclaimed from the living room, and although it sounded familiar I couldn’t quite place it. I moved over to my suitcase to switch out my shorts for leggings considering Colby obviously had company over.

“Dude, what the fuck?!” Another voice shouted as I pulled my leggings and walked over to the door.

“Guys, shut up! You’re going to wake her up.” I heard Colby’s voice whisper-yell from the other side of the door.

“She was attacked by a ghost!” Came Sam’s voice as I pulled open the door to see Colby, Sam, Kat, Jake and Tara squished on the couch together while Corey stood nearer to Colby’s kitchen.

All eyes immediately cut to me and I shifted uncomfortably.

“Hey guys.” I rasped sleepily.

“Morning.” Colby greeted me.

“Sorry Y/N. Did we wake you?” Sam asked guiltily.

“Yeah, but it’s okay.” I reassured him with a soft smile. Walking over I squeezed myself between Colby, Jake and Tara who was sitting on her boyfriend’s lap. I grinned to myself when Colby immediately wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Are you okay, Y/N? Colby was telling us about what happened last night.” Corey questioned, stepping closer to the couch.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” I replied quietly, but couldn’t help the shudder as I remembered the events of the night before.

“What happened from your perspective?” Sam asked me.

“Well, uummm…” I paused to bring up arms up to hug myself as the fear crept back in. “Colby went outside to go to the toilet, but as soon as he left the atmosphere kind of changed…” The arm around my waist tightened, and I glanced over to see a guilty look of Colby’s face. Shifting closer, I leaned into him in an attempt to comfort him like he was trying to do for me.

“In what way?” I pulled my gaze away from Colby’s when the question came from Tara, and I turned to address her.

“It just went really eerie and creepy, but it was probably because I was on my own… Anyway, I decided to go back downstairs to wait for Colby, when I heard noises coming from the basement. I thought it was Colby, so I went down. There was this scraping noise from the corner and I went closer because I thought it was just this ass hat trying to scare me…” I nudged Colby with my elbow as I explained. “…But then there was this bang and a voice.” I finished.

“Did you hear what the voice said?” Sam asked.

“It told me to get out.” I told them with a grimace and a shiver.

“Ughh! That’s so scary.” Kat exclaimed from where she was curled into Sam’s side.

“See Jake! Ghosts are real!” Corey rounded on Jake, his tone serious. Jake only shrugged before directing a pitiful look my way.

There was an awkward silence before Tara piped up.

“How about we all go out today to get your mind off of it?” She suggested, before adding. “We can take you around some of the tourist spots.”

“That would be great. Thanks guys.” I responded with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_3 hours later…_

Colby and his friends, bar Corey who had other plans, took me to walk down the Walk of Fame before going to get lunch, and we were now up at the Griffith Observatory.

“We need to come back when it’s dark so you can see all of the city lights.” Colby told me as we looked out across the city. His friends were standing a bit further away from us as Kat and Tara wanted to take photos with their boyfriends.

“I’d like that. I love seeing cities from above like this.” I commented with a grin.

“Me too. You don’t realise the scale of things until you’re high up.” I hummed in agreement. We fell back into a comfortable silence as we continued to admire the view.

I startled slightly when a hand slid into mine, and looked down to see Colby’s ring-clad fingers intertwining with mine. Peering up at him I was met with a quizzical look… Like he was trying to figure out whether I was okay with the contact. I debated it for a second, before gazing down and tightened my hand in his. I had to look away when I felt my cheeks heat up, a shy smile growing on my face, so I didn’t see the similar adoring smile that was sent my way.

I thought of all of the soft touches and hugs that I had received from him since we had reconnected in Kansas, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was developing more than just platonic feelings for me.

“ _No way would he go for someone like me when he probably has loads of beautiful L.A girls lusting after him. He was just being his usual soft self and nothing more. We’re just friends._ ” I tried to tell himself.

However, I had to admit that there was definitely something different about our relationship this time around, and there was a spark of excitement and want in me at the idea of being with him.

“ _But maybe we’re just taking advantage of the fact that we can be close again after being apart for so long._ ” I was so in thought that I didn’t realise that he was talking to me at first.

“-re you okay?” Catching the end of the sentence, I glanced to my side at Colby.

“Sorry, what?” I asked.

“Are you okay?” He frowned in concern.

“Yeah, sorry… I’m fine. I was just thinking about stuff.” I responded awkwardly.

“Come on! We’ll take you to the best view of the Hollywood sign.” I was glad that Colby seemed to decide to ignore it, because instead he just pulled me along by my hand over to the others.

He didn’t let go of my hand when his friends noticed, or during the 5 minute walk over to where he wanted to take me, so I didn’t say anything and let my hand rest securely in his large one.

“So you can’t go right up to it?” I asked as I gazed further up the mountain at the famous sign.

“No, they’ve blocked it all off from the public.” Colby explained.

“I heard it’s because satanic stuff used to happen up there.” Jake butted in.

“Jake…” Tara sighed shaking her head.

“What?! It’s what I heard!” He insisted.

“He’s kind of not wrong… There are loads of stories about this park being a hot spot for satanic rituals.” Sam cut in.

“Way to bring the mood down with your creepy shit, guys!” Kat scolded, but the boys only laughed.

“Y/N, here. Let’s get a photo.” Colby said to me, tugging on my hand lightly whilst pulling out his phone.

“I’ll take it for you.” Sam offered, and Colby thanked him as he handed his phone over.

He then threw an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close so I was tucked under his chin. I smiled against his chest at how warm and fuzzy I felt when near him. We continued to pose until I pulled away when an idea popped into my head.

“Colby, bend your knees.” I ordered as I moved behind him.

“Why?” He questioned, following my instructions curiously.

“This is why!” I yelled excitedly as I jumped on his back, wrapping my legs around his waist and arms around his neck.

“Y/N!” He yelped as he stumbled forward in surprise.

“What?! This makes for a better photo!” I giggled.

“You could’ve warned me!” He cried, but still put his hands under my thighs to support me.

“Quit your whining!” I mocked humorously.

“Whining?! How about I dump you back on the floor?!” He argued back.

“You wouldn’t dare!” I cried warningly.

“You wanna bet!?” He joked, before he started jostling me around on his back.

“COLBY!” I exclaimed whilst laughing as I gripped him harder. I knew he wasn’t really trying to throw me off as he tightened his grasp on my legs. He continued to jump and spin me around for a bit longer before he started to tire.

“Alright! Alright! Can you please loosen your grip before you choke me out?!” He chuckled, shifting again but only to hike me up higher into a more comfortable position for him.

“You wouldn’t be able to talk if I was!” I quipped back playfully.

“Have you guys always fought like this?” Glancing forward I saw that Colby’s friends were watching us with amused looks on their faces. For a moment there I was so caught up in Colby that I had forgotten that they were even there.

I looked back at Colby at the question, and he turned his face so he could side-eye me. We both grinned childishly before turning back to his friends.

“Pretty much!” We replied at the same time.

“Can I take the photo now or are you guys still not done?” Sam admonished, but there was a wide smile on his face.

“Sorry mom.” I groaned, making his friends laugh.

“You guys get in too!” I beckoned them over after Sam had taken a few pictures.

“Here Jake, you have longer arms.” Sam said to Jake, passing him Colby’s phone as they all came over to crowd in next to us.

We smiled and made funny faces as Jake snapped some pictures, and I hopped off Colby’s back when he was done.

“Aw, they’re so cute!” Kat squealed as Colby flicked through the photos to show everyone.

“Can you send them to me?” I asked him.

“Yeah, of course. Remind me when we get home.” He answered.

“Come on, we should start heading back for pizza night.” Sam instructed us.

“Pizza night?” I questioned.

“Yeah, Sam has a pizza night every Wednesday at his place.” Colby told me, and I nodded.

As we started to walk back towards the cars Colby offered his hand out to me, which I took with a timid smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know this is a bit of a slow burner, but I want to focus on the reader and Colby trying to navigate through their new relationship and figure out their feelings for each other first before getting into the more juicier stuff. Please just stick with it for now! :D
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)


	19. Pizza Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is some drama at Sam's pizza night!

**Reader’s POV**

“Do I have time to have a quick shower before we go over to Sam’s?” I asked Colby as I followed him into his apartment.

“Yeah, it’s super chill so everyone comes and goes whenever they want.” He answered as he dumped his backpack onto the couch.

“Okay, cool.” I said as I headed towards Colby’s room. I paused when another thought hit me.

“Hey, can I borrow another one of your hoodies? The other one you gave me isn’t that clean.” I have bought other hoodies and jumpers with me, but they weren’t as comfortable as Colby’s hoodie.

“Yeah of course! Here, I’ll show you where I keep all my merch. Just help yourself to whatever.” He led me into his office and slid one of the big glass doors open to reveal racks of clothes.

“Take your pick.” He stated. Rummaging through his clothes, I chose out a pink hoodie which looked similar to the one of Colby’s that I already had.

“I love the design on this t-shirt.” I told him when I came across a black t-shirt with white writing and symbols on it.

“Yeah, that is one of my favourite designs to be fair. We made those for a charity thing we did not long ago.”

“That’s cool. I’m definitely stealing it at some point.” I replied adamantly with a grin.

“Go for it!” Colby laughed.

“Okay, I’ll go take that shower. I won’t be long. You can head over to Sam’s if you want.” I advised him.

“Nah, I’ll wait for you.” He responded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trailing after Colby into Sam’s apartment, the first thing I noticed that there was a lot more people than I expected there would be. I felt very underdressed when I spotted Katrina in a nice top, skirt and heels. Looking down at my hoodie, jeans and sneakers, I wondered if I could sneak back to Colby’s to change before anyone really noticed.

“Y/N, this is Xepher and Griffin.” I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of Colby’s voice, and I focused on the people who he was introducing me too. I was immediately enamoured by the girl’s fashion sense with her blue and pink hair, unique black dress and studded platform boots.

“Hi.” I greeted them, and they returned the sentiment.

“Do you want me to get you some pizza?” Colby asked me.

“Yes, please.” I replied with a smile.

“I love your style. It’s so unique.” I said to Xepher as Colby left me to go around to the kitchen area, saying hi to people on his way.

“Thank you.” She smiled.

“Where do you get your clothes from?” I questioned.

“Usually I just get pieces from loads of different places and put it all together.” She explained nonchalantly.

“Really?! That’s amazing.” I complimented her, and she thanked me again.

“Xeph!” We were interrupted by a girl with long black hair, and I felt a little less out of place when I saw that she was wearing a vest top and jogging pants.

She smiled at me when she noticed that I was standing there.

“Hi, I’m Cassie.” She stated.

“Hi Cassie, I’m Y/N. Colby’s friend.” I told her.

Colby returned then, placing a paper plate down on the counter in front of me. Looking down, I saw that it was piled with a few pieces of pepperoni pizza.

“Thanks Colbs.” I shot a small smile his way as I reached for the plate and grabbed a slice.

I munched on my pizza as Colby spoke with Griffin while Cassie and Xepher went over to speak with Kat, Reggie, Corey and a few other people that I didn’t know on the sofas. Sam, Jake and Tara came over to join us at some point, and conversation soon turned to filming.

“Hey Colby, do you want to be in my video this week? I’ll be filming on Friday.” Jake asked him.

“I don’t know, man. It wouldn’t be fair with Y/N here.” My eyes shot over to Colby, feeling bad as I hadn’t realised how much I was interrupting his life just by being in L.A.

“Kat and I invited Y/N on our girl’s trip on Friday so you can help Jake with his video, Colby.” Tara interjected.

“Hey, why don’t we ever get invited on these girl’s trips?” Sam moaned seriously but it was obvious that he was joking.

“Let us do your make up and then you can come.” Tara quipped back.

“Alright, never mind.” Sam sighed, making us all laugh.

“What are you going to do for your video this week, Colby?” Sam queried.

“I was thinking of taking a bit of a break while Y/N’s here, but if we’re filming on Friday I might film something.” Colby responded.

“We’ll keep her entertained Colby, miss this week’s video but record something for the next two weeks so at least you don’t have to worry about it then.” Tara suggested.

“Yeah, I think I’ll do that.” Colby agreed.

The front door swung open then to reveal Kevin and Aryia.

“What’s up, bitches!” Kevin yelled, striding into the room.

“Kevin! You’re going to make Sam get a noise complaint!” Kat scolded playfully from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, I’ll be given my last warning like Jake.” Sam chuckled.

“Would you guys let me stay at your apartments if I do get evicted?” Jake pouted at Sam and Colby. The duo shared a look before grinning.

“Hell no, brother.” Colby turned back to Jake, shaking his head.

“What?! Sam would! Right buddy?”

“I guess so if you had nowhere else to stay.” Sam groaned.

“Hey Y/N.” Glancing to my right, I smiled happily when I saw Aryia’s familiar face. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and gave me a brief squeeze.

“Hey! How are you?” I hugged him back quickly before he pulled away. He was the first person that I had met who has gone through similar stuff as me, so there was definitely a connection between us. Plus I appreciated him for the things that he said to me the other night.

“I’m good! You?” Aryia replied.

“Yeah, I’m great thank you.”

“You know…” Aryia leaned down so he was closer to me. “… Colby should be paying you for making his merch look so good.” He spoke lowly, and my cheeks immediately went warm as I started to blush at his compliment.

I didn’t have time to say anything in response before someone shifted on my other side, and I turned my head to see that Colby was staring at Aryia over my head. His look was intense, and I wondered if they had had an argument or something.

I noticed that the small group around us had gone quiet, and I frowned in confusion.

“ _Why are they acting so weird all of a sudden_?” I questioned to myself. I went to ask Colby if he was okay when there were a few taps on my shoulder, and I gazed over only to meet Kat’s eyes.

“Y/N! Do you want to come learn Tiktok dances with us?” She questioned excitedly, but she was already tugging lightly on my arm.

I nodded and went to follow after her, figuring that there must be a reason as to why she was trying to pull me away from whatever was going on between the two guys. I sneaked a peek at Colby along the way, however he was still glaring at Aryia. Letting the blue haired girl lead me over to the other girls and Corey, I was introduced to a quiet girl called Devyn and one of Corey’s close friends, Chaz.

“Join in with us, Y/N. Corey’s teaching us a dance.” Devyn told me sweetly, and I nodded.

I watched Corey show us the moves a few times before I tried to join in. I stole curious glances over to the other side of the room, and noticed that Sam and Colby had broken away from the others, and were speaking quietly in the corner of the room while Aryia and Kevin were doing the same in Sam’s kitchen.

“ _Okay… What the hell is going on? They were fine when we went out the other night._ ” I thought.

“Do Colby and Aryia usually not get along?” I asked Kat quietly as she was standing right beside me.

“No, they’re best friends.” She answered vaguely, making me more confused.

“Why would Colby be mad at him then?” I received shrugs from Kat and Corey, but I didn’t miss the side-eyed glance they gave each other.

“ _Colby only started to act weirdly when Aryia came over and started flirting with me. So maybe he’s just being a little overprotective… In a completely protective guy friend kind of way of course.”_ I concluded, because Colby doesn’t see me as anything but a friend. Why would he?

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Kat asked me.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about stuff…” I replied dismissively, smiling awkwardly, before turning back to Corey. “Show me those dance moves again, Corey.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Colby’s POV**

“What was that about?” Sam whispered to me quietly as soon as we stepped away from the others.

“I don’t know, man. Aryia was hitting on her…” I trailed off, bristling once again as I remembered the suggestive comment that Aryia had made to her.

“Don’t let some girl get between you and one of your closest friends, Colby.” Sam tried to reason, and I affixed him with a stern look.

“She’s more than just some girl, Sam.” I told him honestly, and his face softened slightly.

“You know she’s not your girlfriend, right?” He reminded me cautiously, before continuing “But if she really means that much to you why don’t you just ask her out, man?” He questioned.

“Because we’re friends, and I don’t want to mess that up. Plus she doesn’t even like me in that way.” I responded, inwardly cringing at how miserable I sounded.

“She does like you, Colby.” Sam sighed.

“And how do you know that?” I asked him, feeling conflicted because I usually trusted Sam’s judgement about things, but he was wrong on this one.

“Because she smiles at you the same way you smile at her.” Sam explained with a soft smile.

“What? No she doesn’t!” I hissed lowly.

“Yeah, she does dude!” He argued back adamantly.

My eyes drifted over to her, and I grinned when I saw her laughing at something that Corey was doing. “ _She does?_ ” I contemplated to myself.

“I think the main problem is that neither of you know where you stand with each other, but one of you has got to make the first move at some point. Remember she’s going to be back in Kansas before you know it, dude. It’s completely up to you, brother, but nothing’s going to happen if you don’t take that chance.” I glared at him for using my slogan against me, and he smiled knowingly.

“Yeah, I know. Thanks man.” I sighed, clapping him appreciatively on the shoulder as I walked passed him, heading over to the couch. As I approached I caught the start of a conversation between Corey and Y/N.

“Have you had dance lessons before, Y/N?” He asked her.

“No, why?” She responded.

“You haven’t? You’re really good!” Corey advised.

“I am? Thanks!” She smiled shyly at his words. Kat smirked when she saw me coming closer.

“Maybe you can teach Colby because he dances like he’s got two left feet!” She commented jokingly, loud enough so she knew I’d hear.

“Hey, I heard that!” I whined.

“I’d say it’s more like old dad dancing.” Devyn giggled, making the others laugh.

“Thanks guys.” I chuckled whilst going over to plop down on the sofa, Y/N came up behind me and sat down next to me. I was glad when my friends seemed to back off a little, letting us have a moment alone.

“Have you had fun in L.A so far?” I asked her.

“Yeah, I love hanging out with you guys. I know it’s only been a few days, but I’m not missing home at all.” She explained, and I nodded.

“I get what you mean. Sam and I had a lot of worries about coming out here and away from family, but after a couple of weeks I think we started to realise that we’d made the right decision. There’s so much more out here in so many different ways. For me personally it was the freedom that really helped me.”

“I’ve been thinking about whether Kansas is really where I should be.” She mused after a brief silence.

“Really?” I questioned, and there was a twinge of excitement inside me at the idea of her moving out to L.A.

“Yeah... I mean I’m not saying L.A. is where I belong either, but being out here is beginning to show me that there’s more to it than just barely scraping by on two minimum wage jobs for my entire life.” She clarified, and I slumped slightly as my momentary hopes were dashed.

“Do you have any idea what you want to do?”

“Not really… I’ve always wanted to work with animals but…” She paused and dipped her head, but I didn’t miss the sad look on her face.

“What?” I pushed carefully.

“I got accepted into the University of Kansas, but I met Tom during the summer before I was meant to go.”

“Tom?”

“My ex.” She sighed. “After I fell in with his crowd it got hard for me to focus on what was actually important. I barely lasted a month in college before I decided to just drop out.” When she lifted her head back up, there were tears in her eyes and my heart went out to her.

“It’s not too late for you to go back, you know? A lot of people go to college when they’re a little older.” I encouraged, reaching out I placed a comforting hand on her knee.

“I doubt any good colleges would accept me after bailing last time.” She scoffed.

“You never know, they’d be stupid not to take a smart girl like you.” I said softly.

“I don’t know Colby.” Shifting closer, I moved my arm so it was wrapped about her and pressed a kiss into the hair at the side of her head. As I moved away, I noticed Aryia eyeing us, and I felt childish satisfaction when I saw his smile drop a little. Focusing back on Y/N, I gulped when I realised that she was staring at me weirdly.

“What was that for?” She asked quietly.

“I just don’t like to see you hurting, that’s all.” I responded earnestly, earning a gentle smile from her. “You’ll figure it out, but just remember that you have a whole support system here.” I murmured, motioning to the other people in the room.

“Thank you Colbs, that means a lot.” She said, her tone a little choked with emotion.

“What was going on between you and Aryia earlier?” Her sudden question caught me a little off guard.

“Uhhh… Nothing…” I mumbled, looking away to avoid her serious look.

“It didn’t look like nothing.” She commented.

“Can we talk about it later? Not while we’re around my friends, please?” I asked pleadingly.

“Okay.” She answered simply, but I could tell she wasn’t going to let it go. She stood up then, and held out a hand for me. Grasping her hand lightly, I pushed myself up when she pulled gently on my hand. “Come on. Let’s go get some more pizza.” She let go of my hand, and I immediately hated the loss of her warm palm against mine.

We went over to Sam’s kitchen and joined back in with everyone. Looping an arm over her shoulders casually as Kat and Cassie told her about their plans for their day out on Friday. I grinned at how perfectly she seemed to fit in with my close-knit group of friends. Everyone seemed to like her as well, which was a good thing, and I selfishly hoped that she will decide to at least come out to L.A. more often.

We stayed for another hour before I asked her if she wanted to leave, and she agreed. Although I loved being around my friends, there were times that I didn’t feel like being around loads of people, and tonight was one of them apparently.

We let Sam know that we were going to go, and said bye to everyone before returning to my apartment.

“I’m going to chill on my balcony for a bit if you want to join me.” I offered as I closed the front door behind me.

“Yeah sure.”

Going over, I unlocked and slid the door open, letting her go out in front of me. We settled in the chairs on either side of the small space.

“Doesn’t the constant noise bother you?” She questioned as she curled up on the seat, and I paused to listen to the sound of the city around us, sirens going off somewhere in the distance.

“I’ve got used to it I guess.” I shrugged.

“Hey, I’m sorry if I’m like… Messing with your usual plans and stuff like that.” She stated.

“What do you mean?” I asked, furrowing my brow.

“You said earlier that you weren’t going to be filming anything because I’m here.” She explained.

“It’s okay, I was thinking of taking some time off when I got back from my London trip anyway.”

“I feel like you’re just saying that to make me feel better.” She told me quietly, worrying her lip between her teeth.

“I’m not. I’m sorry if I made you feel bad. I’m the one that invited you out here, remember. I love having you here, and I care more about making sure you have a great time than making sure I post weekly.” I said surely. She gazed at me for a moment before a fond smile spread across her face.

“That’s really sweet Colbs.” She giggled lightly, her tone light. I adored the way her nickname for me always fell smoothly from her lips. None of my other friends really called me it apart from in rare moments of endearment, but the more she used it the more that I wanted it to just be unique to her.

“Colby?” The call of my name pulled me from my head.

“Yeah?”

“What happened with Aryia earlier?”

“Nothing really…” I sighed and she quirked an eyebrow, her look urging me to be truthful with her. “…I just didn’t like the way he was flirting with you.” I admitted quietly.

“You don’t have to be so protective over me, you know? I can handle myself.” She voiced in slight annoyance.

“I know you can… But you still mean a lot to me, Y/N.” I confessed, and I expected another remark about how she can look after herself. However, she just let out a breath and peered out across the street.

“Thank you, Colby. I’m lucky to have a good friend like you.” She smiled.

“Right…” Something about her sentence didn’t sit right with me.

“I think I’m going to head to bed, I’m still a bit tired after last night.” She stated, climbing to her feet.

“Okay. Goodnight Y/N.” I uttered as she went to step back inside.

“Night Colbs.” She cooed gently over her shoulder along the way.

Gazing down at my hands in my lap I rubbed them together as I thought again about what she had said before going in.

She called me a good friend.

“ _Talk about getting friend zoned._ ” I laughed pathetically.

Sam’s word then rang in my head. He was right when he said that I didn’t have long before Y/N went back home. However, I wasn’t quite sure on his statement about her liking me as well, but maybe she’s just as scared of ruining our close friendship as I am.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)


	20. It's A Jungle Out There... Part 1.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Colby has a surprise for Y/N.

**Colby’s POV**

“Y/N!” I called her name as I knocked on the door to my bedroom. A few seconds later the door opened to reveal a very tired and grouchy looking Y/N.

“Morning…” She mumbled while yawning and stretching out her arms above her head.

“Hey, get ready. We’re going out!” She paused and focused fully on me.

“Where?” She asked sleepily.

“It’s a surprise.” I told her with a grin. I was pretty proud of the plans I had made today, and I couldn’t wait to see her reaction.

“What about breakfast?” She pouted, but there was a small smile of her face.

“We’ll get some on the way.” I reassured her.

“What should I wear?” She questioned.

“Just something casual.”

Her smile grew to match mine, and she smoothed back some of her messy bed hair and tucked it behind her ear. “Okay, give me like… Half an hour.” She disappeared back into my bedroom after that, the door clicking shut behind her.

I returned to my sofa as I waited for her to get ready. I slipped into my bedroom when she was done to quickly get myself ready, and we were climbing into my car just over an hour later.

“Are any of your friends coming?” She asked me as she placed her bag on the floor by her feet.

“No, they’re busy.” I wasn’t going to tell her that I had told Sam and Jake that we couldn’t hang out with them today as I wanted to spend the day alone with her.

Pulling out of the parking garage, I headed north towards our destination.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?” Y/N queried only five minutes into the journey.

“Nope. You’ll figure it out soon.” I answered vaguely as I turned onto Santa Monica Boulevard. I could see her looking at the signposts outside in the corner of my eye, obviously trying to figure out where we were going.

“Are we going shopping on Rodeo Drive?” Peering to my right, I could see the sign for it coming up.

“No.”

“Golf?” She then asked, pointing to the entrance of a golf course that I had never even realised was there. I shook my head. I stole glances at her as I continued on up the road, but she only continued to try to spot clues quietly.

“Universal Studios?!” The over excited question that came after a few silent minutes nearly made me swerve my car as I startled.

"No, Y/N patience! We're still twenty minutes out!" I laughed. I wished I had kept quiet until we were a little closer because although seeing her happy made my heart soar, it wasn't worth crashing my car over when none of her guesses were correct yet.

Y/N giggled before slumping back into the seat with a frustrated sigh.

"What was Sam doing today?"

"Not sure. I think he was doing something with Kat." I lied smoothly. " _It's only a little white lie after all... Besides Sam probably is going to see Kat today because more often than not he's with her if not with me."_

We chatted about our individual plans tomorrow to fill the time. I spotted the sign for our destination before she did, and I waited to see how long it'd take for her to notice.

It didn't take her long, and her eyes lit up when I took the turning for the attraction's parking lot.

"The Zoo?"

"Yeah, is that okay?" I questioned just to be sure.

"Yeah!" She nodded her head enthusiastically.

She tried to pay for her ticket when we got to the entrance of the Zoo, but I refused adamantly as I grasped her hand to stop it from reaching for her bag.

"No. This was my idea, so I'm paying." I said sternly but with a gentle smile.

"Fine! I'm getting the next one though!" She argued back.

"Sure..." I agreed noncommittedly.

"What do you want to see first?" I asked as we got into the Zoo. Y/N studied the map in the little leaflet they had given us at the ticket booth for a moment before deciding.

"The giraffes!" I grinned at her answer.

"Good because I have another surprise for you!" I told her, quickly checking the time on my phone to make sure that we'll be on time for what I had arranged earlier this morning before Y/N had woken up.

"You do? What is it?!" She queried.

"You'll see when we get there!" I responded cryptically, a mischievous smirk on my lips.

"Colby..." She groaned. Reaching out, I laced my fingers in between hers as I took her hand.

"Come on. They aren't far." Tugging her forward slightly, we went off towards the giraffe enclosure.

Arriving at the enclosure, I spotted a male member of staff standing with an older looking lady, and a teenage girl who I presumed to be her daughter. Leading Y/N over, the staff member gave us a friendly smile when he saw us approaching.

"Are you guys here to feed the giraffes?" He questioned, and Y/N's eye immediately shot over to look at me in awe when she registered what he had asked.

"We are." I confirmed.

"Great, if you'd like to follow me I'll take you over to meet with the zookeeper." The man informed us, and we fell into step behind him.

"Colby, how did you do this?!" Y/N questioned incredulously from my side.

"I know a guy." I answered vaguely.

"Colby." She pulled me to a stop, and I frowned in confusion but it wasn't long before she crashed into my side and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. "Thank you!" She squealed into my chest, and I smiled as I squeezed her briefly before pulling away.

"No problem. Are you excited?"

"Of course! How did you know I love giraffes?"

"Please..." I scoffed. "You were obsessed when we were kids. Don't think I don't remember the matching giraffe print shoes and bag you wore all the time!" I chuckled.

"Oh god... You remember that?" She asked with a moan.

"Of course I do! You were so cute!" I joked, leaning over to ruffle her hair. She let out a noise akin of a squawk, and batted my hand away before fixing her hair.

"Okay guys-" We were interrupted by the zookeeper who introduced herself, and went over some rules before she led us back over to the giraffe enclosure. We were guided up some steps to a platform a couple of metres high so we would be face-to-face with the giraffes.

"We feed them at roughly the same times every day, so they should emerge from their home over there pretty soon." The zookeeper advised, pointing to the big building to the back of the large fenced in area. I could feel the excitement pouring off Y/N in waves as we waited patiently for the giraffe to come out and over to us, and I felt good knowing that I'd made her this happy.

A few seconds passed before the giraffes began walking one by one out of the big green wooden doors to the side of the building. There were five in total including a baby giraffe who trailed after the older ones.

"How old is the baby?" The older woman that was with us asked.

"She's only 3 weeks. That's Nala. She'll probably stay back while the others are feeding as she's still feeding from her mother."

"Oh my gosh, look they're coming!" Y/N whisper-yelled next to me as the giraffes meandered over gracefully, and I had to admit that I found the child-like glee in her voice absolutely adorable.

"Y/N shhh... You'll scare them away." I hushed her softly.

"Right..." She went a little red, and blushed in embarrassment which was even cuter.

"Who wants to go first?" The zookeeper asked and I nudged Y/N forward, however she stopped short and eyed the younger girl with us.

"You go first sweetie." She told her kindly. The girl thanked her shyly before stepping towards the zookeeper who handed her a branch to hold out for the giraffes that were nearly upon us.

"This is so cool." Y/N exclaimed as she pulled out her phone to take some photos and videos of the giraffe currently stripping the leaves off the branch that the girl had, and I did the same.

The older lady told Y/N to go next when the giraffe had finished off her daughter's branch, and Y/N took a branch for herself eagerly after handing her phone over to the zookeeper for her to take photos. The largest giraffe, which the zookeeper said was the dominant male, muscled his way in for the branch, and Y/N gazed up at him in wonder as he went to work on getting his food. I made sure to snap some good photos of my own for her.

"Y/N, smile." I called quietly, and she turned to give me a wide cheesy smile which had me giggling and my heart fluttering whilst I filmed a short video.

"Was that fun?" I asked her when she came back over to stand by me while the older lady took her turn.

"It was amazing!" She stated brightly, and she slipped her hand into mine to give it a light squeeze before focusing back on the creatures in front of us.

It was soon my turn, and although this was something that I wouldn't think I'd really be interested in, I had to admit that it was a pretty cool experience as the giraffe pulled on the stick in my hand to get the foliage off.

There were some branches left over after me so the zookeeper told us that we could feed them as pairs to get some duo photos.

Twenty minutes later we were stepping out of the small hut that we were first taken to. Y/N had a big grin on her face as she clutched the complimentary giraffe teddy that they had given her to her chest, and I had a mug in my hand which I had opted for instead of the plush toy.

"Thank you Colby, that was really special!" Y/N thanked me again as we said bye to the zookeeper.

"You're welcome!" I chirped happily.

"Should we go find somewhere to eat now?" I then asked her, my rumbling stomach reminding me that we had forgotten to get breakfast on the way to the zoo in the midst of all the excitement. Checking the time on my phone, I saw that it was past lunchtime.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" She agreed. We stopped to have a quick look at some of the animals along the way to the food court a little further down the path.

We made sure to make the most of the rest of the day, and tried to see as much as possible. That meant that we were pretty tired by the time we left just after 5pm, but I gave in when Y/N demanded on buying dinner.

As we got into my car to leave the Zoo, I thought about the events of today and how much I enjoyed spending the day with her. Today had been easy as I hadn't thought once about my work, or what my fans would think of her. I then remembered what Sam had said last night... He was right when he said Y/N's visit was going to go by so quickly. However that was one of the reasons why I didn't want to act on my feelings for her. Long distance relationships were difficult, and even more so with new relationships. It wasn't like I could move back to Kansas, or ask her to move out to L.A.. On the other hand I worried that if I just left things as friends between us she would go home, and that would be that... I worried that we'd just grow apart again as our lives carried on. I felt like if I told her how I really felt about her she would be a little more permanent in my life, and we'd be able to make it work if we both really wanted it too.

With my mind made up, the anxiety then came about how I was going to do this. I hadn't felt this way about a girl in a long time, maybe never even and I couldn't screw it up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter's a little rubbish, but I think it's pretty cute! :D At least it seems like Colby's ready to admit his feelings, but will it all work out for him?? >:L


	21. It's A Jungle Out There... Part 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake has some bad news for Colby when he and the reader get back from the zoo.

**Y/N’s POV**

“Is there anything you want to do tonight?” Colby asked me as he set the mug he got from the zoo down on his kitchen counter.

“What are your friends doing?” I asked in return with a shrug.

“I don’t know. I’ll text Sam.” Colby replied, pulling out his phone from his pocket.

“Okay.” I said, before going over to Colby’s bedroom to dump by bag. Setting it on the floor next to my suitcase, I stood up straight and smiled when I spotted a stuffed koala bear teddy on Colby’s dresser. I looked down at the giraffe teddy in my hand before lifting it and putting it next to the koala.

I quickly used the bathroom before going back out to the lounge to join Colby.

“Sam and Jake are coming over.” He told me, and I nodded.

“Can I grab a drink?”

“Yeah sure, help yourself!” He motioned over to his fridge, and I walked over as he disappeared into his bedroom after telling me that he was going to get changed.

Browsing through his fridge, I grabbed a can of coke from the bottom. As I closed the fridge door I heard movement in the hallway outside of Colby’s apartment, followed by familiar voices.

“Dude, he’s going to be so mad at me!” I frowned when I made out Jake’s voice.

“Jake, Colby won’t be mad.” I grew more concerned at Sam’s answer, wondering what’s happened. Moving over to the front door, I pulled it open to reveal the two. Sam had his hand raised in a loose fist like he was going to knock.

“Hey Y/N.” He smiled awkwardly as he let his hand fall back down to his side.

“Hi!” I greeted them, before turning to Jake. “What did you do, Jake?” I joked with a small giggle.

“Wha-?” He went to ask, looking befuddled.

“I heard you guys in the hall.” I interrupted him, moving out of the way to let them in. However, the two only hovered in the kitchen area.

Sam and Jake shared a look, before the pink-haired boy turned back to me. “I need to talk to Colby.” I was a little taken aback by the seriousness in his voice.

“Do you guys want some privacy?” I asked them.

“No… This kind of includes you too, Y/N.” He sighed.

“What do you mean?” I questioned, growing even more confused.

“I-” He started, but was cut off by Colby who re-entered the room.

“Hey guys!” He called cheerily when he saw his friends.

“Hey Colby...” Jake responded quietly, and Colby immediately noticed the difference in the usually excitable, care-free guy too.

“What’s wrong?” He queried, approaching us slowly.

“I posted a picture from Sam’s pizza night this morning.” Jake stated vaguely.

“Okay, and…?” Colby pushed.

“You and Y/N were sitting in the back of it… The fans are going crazy, Colby, haven’t you seen it?” Jake answered carefully. I furrowed my brow as I tried to figure out why a picture would be such a big deal. Turning to Colby, I noticed that he had gone a little pale. I went to ask him if he was okay, but he started talking before I could.

“No, we’ve only just got back…” He explained, trailing off as he seemed to gulp in a breath. “…How bad is it?” He asked quietly.

“Pretty bad, man.” Sam told him, looking between Colby and I with what I believed to be sympathy in his eyes which I didn't understand.

“I’m sorry, Colby.” Jake told his friend earnestly.

“It’s alright, bro. It’s not your fault.” Colby reassured him, clapping him on the shoulder.

“What does this mean? It’s just a photo.” All three pairs of eyes landed on me, and Colby sighed.

“I’ll show you.” He said, retrieving his phone from his pocket.

“Just search ‘Colby’ and ‘girl’, bro. Some are already jumping to mystery girlfriend.” Sam told him.

“They think I’m his girlfriend?” Sam nodded at me.

“Do you think they’d be able to find Y/N’s social media accounts?” Colby questioned, his voice shaking slightly as he fiddled with his phone.

“No, I wouldn’t think so.” Sam mused, before adding “That just means some other poor girl is going to get the brunt of it though.”

“Aren’t you guys taking this whole thing a little too seriously?” I butted in.

“No.” Colby replied lowly. “Just look.” He offered me his phone which I took hesitantly. Looking at his screen I saw that he had Twitter pulled up. Reading some of the tweets, I couldn’t help but feel slight amusement at some of the stuff that the obviously jealous fans were saying.

‘ _Colby better not have a girlfriend istg…_ ’ One tweet caught my eye.

Someone had replied with ‘ _LET’S KILL HER!_ ’, and I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

“You weren’t kidding about the death threats, huh?” I joked, handing Colby’s phone back over to him.

“Y/N, this isn’t a joke!” Colby snapped curtly while he grabbed the phone for me a little too harshly. My grin dropped instantly… Colby had never spoken to me like that before, and I felt more than a little shocked. Colby must’ve saw the surprise on my face as his eyes softened, and he took a step towards me, like he was going to come over to comfort me.

“Who cares that he posted a photo of us, I’m not your girlfriend! Besides, it wouldn’t even matter if I was.” I bit back, shuffling back from him. I didn’t like it when people got mad at me, and I usually responded with the same level of emotion, if not more so. This time with Colby was no exception.

“You’re not understanding…” Colby groaned with a shake of his head.

“I might have an idea.” Jake interrupted, gaining everyone’s attention.

“Yeah?” Sam encouraged.

“I know this probably sounds like a weird plan, but why don’t we make it out like the photo was a part of a prank.” Jake suggested. Sam and Colby shared a look before gazing back at Jake with intrigue in their eyes.

“Go on.” Colby pushed.

“We can make it look like we faked the photo for the purpose of seeing the fans’ reactions.” Jake explained.

“That… Actually sounds like a good plan, Jake.” I paused when Sam said it. “ _Were they actually being serious?_ ” I asked to myself.

“Who should we ask to help? Like one of the girls, maybe?” Colby questioned and I stared at him, surprised that he was getting on board with the crazy-sounding plan as well.

“You and Y/N are roughly the same build, it won’t matter that you’re a little taller than her because you’ll be sitting down anyway.” Jake speculated as he pointed at Sam, a cheeky smile growing on his face.

Sam’s face fell a little, his mouth opening with a moan.

“You’re kidding, right?” He scoffed, his tone incredulous.

“You’re going to have Sam pretend to be me?” I asked a beat after.

“I think it could work, we can make it look like we edited the photo… But Colby, it’s up to you man.” Jake told him, and Colby glanced away. He appeared to be in deep thought for a moment, before his eyes sought out mine. I frowned, showing my confusion and he sighed once again.

“Can we talk for a moment?” He directed the question at me, walking up to me and offering out his hand. I nodded uncertainly, grabbing his hand softly.

He pulled me into his bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind me and leaving Sam and Jake standing there awkwardly in the living room.

“Isn’t this all a little too much?” I questioned as soon as we had our privacy.

“I know it might seem like it… But trust me when I say that it’s better for the fans to think that it was a prank. The longer that I leave it, the worse it’s going to get, especially if a fan sees us out together.” Colby replied.

“Okay…” I said lowly. I didn’t really understand it, but this was Colby’s life and it seemed like he’d been through something like this before.

“I’m sorry about all of this. I know it must all seem pretty insane to you.” Colby stated with a strained smile and sad eyes, and he gently squeezed my hand that was still resting in his.

“It does… But this is your life, and I don’t have a clue about any of this...” I motioned with my free hand to the world around us. By ‘this’ I meant L.A., and being famous and having fans. “So if you think it’s for the best, then I trust your judgement.” I finished, trying to show him that he has my support.

“Thank you for trying to understand, and I’m sorry for snapping at you in there.” My heart softened at his apology, and realised that I owed him an apology of my own.

“It’s okay... It’s obvious that this whole thing with the fans stresses you out, and I’m sorry for not taking that more seriously.” He let go off my hand before wrapping his arms firmly around my shoulders and bringing me in close.

“I’ve had my heart broken a few times because the girl’s decided that she can’t deal with the hate.” I grabbed onto him at his whispered words, looping my arms around his waist and burying my face into his collarbone. I could hear the pain in his voice and needed to comfort him.

“I’m so sorry, Colby.” I responded in a hushed tone, he didn’t say anything in return but his arms tightened around me.

“I wish that we…” He trailed off before seeming to correct himself. “…That _I_ could have relationships and be friends with whoever I want without them making such a big deal out of it.” He mumbled into my ear.

“Aw Colbs…” I exhaled, rubbing my hand up and down his back. “How long are you going to let them dictate your life, Colby?” He was quiet after that once more, and I decided not to push him.

Instead, we stayed in each other’s arms for a little while longer before he eventually broke away.

“Have you thought about what you want to do tonight?” He asked me, glancing down but not before I saw that his eyes were wet.

“Can we just chill and watch a movie or something? I’m pretty tired after today.” I answered, thinking that Colby would prefer a quiet night with everything that’s going on.

“Yeah, sure! Are you okay with Sam and Jake staying?”

“Of course! I’m going to get changed, you should go sort out your YouTube stuff.” I instructed, and Colby chuckled. “What?” I queried.

“You’re still as bossy as I remember.” Colby quipped back jokingly.

“What?! I am not bossy!” I admonished, whacking him on the arm but there was no force behind it.

“Hey!” Colby squawked anyway, rubbing at his arm dramatically. He then rushed me, catching me around the hips and lifting me up off of my feet. I was impressed by his strength as I squirmed against him. I was dropped onto my back onto a soft surface which I soon realised was his bed. I went to ask him what he was doing but he started tickling me, his fingers wriggling against my ribs and stomach.

“No! Stop!” I yelped as I started to giggle, and I could hear him laughing above me. “Colby! Truce, truce!” I begged, tapping him on the shoulder.

Colby pulled away with a big grin on his face. “I win!” He called triumphantly.

“Only because you manhandled me!” I argued back fiercely.

“Excuses, excuses…” He laughed before pausing, the look on his face going serious again. “Thank you.” He stated suddenly and lowly.

“For what?” I questioned, unsure of what he was thanking me for.

“For being the badass that you are… For not jumping ship on me when so many have before.” My heart hurt at the sadness behind his words.

“I’ve still got time yet.” I joked.

“You wouldn’t… I know you won’t.” He replied confidently and sternly, a smile gracing his lips.

“You’re right. Unfortunately you’re stuck with me for life now.” I giggled.

“There’s nothing unfortunate about that. Y/N, I… I should get back out there… Sam and Jake are waiting.” He slipped out of the room rather quickly after that, leaving me with the feeling that he wanted to tell me something important, but decided against it in the last second.

I changed into some more comfortable clothes before going back out into the living area. Only Sam and Colby were there this time who explained that Jake had gone to meet up with Tara. Sam asked me what I wanted to watch as I joined the two best friends on the sofa, and I decided to let them show me some of their YouTube videos. They seemed excited to show me that side of their lives as they argued momentarily about which video to show me first, but agreed on the Stanley Hotel series first.

Relaxing back into the sofa, Colby, who was sitting in the corner, grabbed a blanket from behind him and began to arrange it across his lap before he stopped short and looked up at me. “Are you cold, Y/N?”

“A little.” I responded, shivering in that moment when I felt the draught from the air conditioner blowing lightly through the room.

“Here.” He offered the blanket out to me, despite obviously getting the blanket for himself.

I took the blanket from him and slid closer to him so I was settled at his side, before throwing the blanket over the both of us. The blanket wasn’t quite big enough for both of us, so I cuddled into him to share our warmth. As the night went on Colby and I curled up closer and closer to each other until we were both resting comfortably with our bodies completely on the sofa. I was laying mostly on Colby with my head tucked into his shoulder, and his arm was wrapped around me loosely. It didn't feel weird to be snuggling with him like this when we were just friends... In fact it felt normal... Natural... _Just right_. I shrugged mentally, figuring it was probably just because we had already shared his bed for two nights in a row.

Sam and Colby insisted on showing me their Witches Forest series after the Stanley Hotel one, which I didn't mind as I found their videos interesting and entertaining. We ended up watching them late into the night until Sam finally decided to call it a night. Colby and I didn't move after Sam left though, instead we stayed huddled up on the sofa, both slowly drifting off with the sound of Colby's TV still on in the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if anyone wants me to continue with this one! :)


	22. Retail Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Truths are revealed on a shopping trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long between updates! D:
> 
> I'm not super happy with this chapter, but it is what it is, haha. Plus it'll start getting more interesting after this chapter!

**Reader’s POV**

I woke to the sound of my alarm going off somewhere in the distance, and I groaned at the noise that I despised so much. Creaking my eyes open, I blinked at my surroundings as my tired mind tried to gain its bearings. I sighed as my alarm persisted, and snuggled into what I assumed was Colby's warm bed below me. However I startled when it shifted slightly, and I opened my eyes more only to see that I was lying on someone's chest. Confused and trying to recall how I came to be asleep on top of someone, I pushed myself up carefully so I didn't jostle the person below me. My jaw dropped open a little when I made out Colby's handsome features.

" _Handsome? That's new..._ " There was no question that Colby was attractive, and I doubted that many people would ever argue against that. The surprise came from me thinking those things about him... Especially after not considering him as anything other than a good friend for the twenty plus years that I had known him.

" _Why was I starting to have these feelings now?_ " It was an important question for another time; a time where I was more awake and ready to deal with my emotions. Right now, I had to figure out how to get off of Colby without waking him.

" _I'm sure he was just being polite last night, and didn't want to wake me after I had fallen asleep on him._ " Manoeuvring myself slowly, I managed to lift myself up off of my friend and shuffled down so I was sitting at his feet. I searched around for my phone when I realised that it was still blaring away. It sounded muffled so I stood to check that I wasn't sitting on it. Listening carefully when I still couldn't find it, I turned to look at Colby when I noticed that the sound was louder when I shifted closer to him.

I debated on what to do for a moment, but I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of someone moving. I looked down to see Colby stirring, and he stretched out before opening his eyes. I was met with a soft smile the moment he saw me standing over him.

"Morning." He breathed sleepily.

"Hi!" I responded with my own smile.

"Were you planning on murdering me or something?" He laughed lowly. I frowned in confusion until I realised how weird I probably looked hovering over him like I was.

"Oh!" I giggled, before rushing to explain. "I think you're lying on my phone."

"Shit... I'm sorry." I felt bad for making him get up so quickly as he pulled himself up stiffly.

"It's okay." I assured him as he dug through the blankets and cushions for a few seconds, before finally managing to locate the device. I thanked him as he handed it over, and was glad when my alarm was finally shut off.

"You can go back to bed if you want! I need to go get ready, anyway. Kat's picking me up in an hour." I told him after checking the time on my phone.

"Nah, I should probably get up anyway." Colby responded. "I'll make you breakfast while you start getting ready."

"You don't have to do that." My heart warmed at the gesture even though I didn't want him to go out of his way to make breakfast seeing as he seemed to Postmate everything.

"I want to." Colby denied adamantly.

"Alright, fine." I gave in with a moan, but smiled brightly. "Thanks, Colbs."

"No worries." He nodded, before shuffling passed me towards the kitchen.

Fifty minutes later I was sitting on the couch, ready and waiting for Kat to pick me up. Breakfast took longer than Colby and I had expected as he realised that he didn't actually have anything in to make the meal. I felt bad and tried to stop him as he got ready to walk down to the shop a couple of blocks away, but he still insisted stubbornly so once again I had to give in.

"Are you excited to hang out with the girls today?" He asked me as he handed me my plate, before slumping down next to me, a plate of his own in hand. Looking down at the plate, my mouth watered at the sight of the bacon and eggs. It looked so good, and I was glad that Colby's cooking skills had seemed to have come a long way from the burnt messes he made when he was 15.

"Yeah! They all seem so nice." I told him happily, although I was nervous to be going out with them, I knew there was really nothing to worry about.

"They are... Sam and I are lucky to have found such a good group of friends out here." Colby mused, the corners of his lips turning upward as he ate.

"What about you? How are you feeling about the video you're going to film today?" His slight smile dropped at my question, and I could see the apprehension in his eyes when he looked up from his food.

"Honestly... A bit anxious. I know it will all be fake, but I'm kind of worried to see the fan's reactions."

"But I thought you were doing it to get them to stop freaking out about the photo Jake posted?" I questioned.

"We are, and it'll be good in that sense... But I just don't like having to lie to them..." He replied truthfully, and I could tell how much he was letting it weigh on him as his shoulders slumped and a sad look crossed his face.

I opened my mouth to comfort him but I was interrupted by a knock at the door. I was surprised at how quick Colby was able to put his walls back up, as his back straightened and his usual smile was back on his face.

"Come in!" He chirped, and a moment later the door was opened to reveal his blue-haired friend.

"Hey Kat!" Colby greeted her.

"Hi! Ready to go, Y/N?" She asked, stepping into the room.

I looked down at my empty plate before glancing back up at Colby. I didn't want to leave in the middle of our conversation, especially when Colby seemed so troubled a few seconds ago.

However, Colby was already taking my empty plate from me and standing up.

"Yeah, she's ready." He answered for me, and I figured he didn't want to open up more with Kat now present.

I sighed and also climbed to my feet to follow after Colby. Grabbing my purse from the side, I stopped when Colby's sapphire orbs focused on me from where he was stood by his sink.

"We'll talk later, okay?" I offered with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah..." I inwardly cheered when Colby's eyes softened at my words.

"See you later Colbs." I told him gently.

"Bye!" He called back, before pausing. "Oh... Wait! Before you go. I forgot to mention that there's a party tonight if you want to go. One of my YouTube friends hit 1 million subs and he's throwing a party to celebrate."

"I'm going to pretend like I know what that means." I joked, causing both Colby and Kat to giggle.

"It's- Never mind. It's just a party." Colby laughed. "So do you want to go? All my friends will be there." He added.

"Yeah, sure!"

"Alright, sweet!" He said excitedly.

We said our goodbyes again, before I trailed after Kat out of the apartment.

"Tara's already in my car, but we're picking Cassie up on the way." She told me as we entered the lift.

"Is Colby okay?" I frowned in confusion at the sudden question.

"Yeah, he's fine... Just-" I stopped when I realised that Colby probably wouldn't want me talking about his feelings when he wasn't around.

"Angst-y Colby shit?" I was shocked at her assumption, as I thought Colby did a pretty good job at concealing his emotions.

"How did you know?" Kat just smiled.

"He thinks we don't notice when he's worrying about stuff, but we do." While I felt relief knowing that Colby's friends knew when he was hiding his emotions, but also hated that it was a known thing as it meant that it happened often. "Don't worry... Sam will cheer him up!" Kat assured me, and I admired her sense of intuition.

"Good!" I laughed.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

_1 hour later_...

"Here it is!" Tara exclaimed as she pulled open the door to her cousin's boutique shop.

I had told Kat and Tara in the car that I needed to get something to wear for the party tonight. I did bring dresses with me to L.A. but I had owned them for over a year now, and felt that I needed something fresh for my first proper Hollywood party. Tara had told me that her cousin owned her own dress shop in town, and would be able to get me a discount which I thought was very nice of her.

"What did you and Colby do yesterday, Y/N? Jake said that you guys were busy." The shorter girl asked me as we looked through the racks of dresses. They all looked so beautiful... But expensive, and I started to worry that I wouldn't be able to afford one even with Tara's family discount.

"He took me to the Zoo and got us in to feed the giraffes." I replied.

"Wait actually?! That's so cool!" Kat squealed.

"Yeah, it was amazing!"

"Do you have pictures? I wanna see!" Tara questioned. I nodded as I pulled out my phone to show them.

"Oh my gosh, look! That's so cute!" Devyn cooed at the picture of Colby and I feeding the giraffes together, and I had to agree that it was pretty frigging adorable.

"Did you tell Colby that it was something that you wanted to do?" Xepher then asked.

"No, he remembered that I loved giraffes from when we were kids and surprised me with it." I told them.

They all 'aww'ed, and my cheeks went a little red at the attention.

"That's so sweet!" Came from Kat.

I focused back on the dresses in front of me, until I came across a simple red, velvety dress that piqued my interest. Taking it from the rack to get a better look, I noticed that it looked quite tight fitting and like it would leave little to the imagination, but I liked the material and the lace detail around the top and bottom.

"What do you guys think of this one?" I turned to the girls behind me, gaining their focus.

"That looks hot!" Tara commented.

"You don't look so sure about it." Cassie speculated.

"It's not really what I usually go for." I explained.

"There's no harm in trying it on."

"Okay." I agreed with Kat, folding the dress over my arm while I looked through the rest of the dresses just in case there was something else I wanted to try on. Finding nothing, I went over to the dressing rooms.

I quickly disrobed and slipped the dress on before turning to look in the mirror. I gawked at my reflection and at the dress that seemed to hug my curves in all the right ways. Deciding I wanted a second opinion before I committed to the dress, I went to pull the curtain back but paused when I heard my name being mentioned.

"He likes Y/N." I heard Kat say.

" _Who likes me?_ " I asked myself, befuddled.

"Wait, really?!" Cassie questioned incredulously. I guessed that they were talking about Aryia considering the flirtatious remark he'd made the other night. However what Kat said next really had me confused.

"Yeah! Well Sam says he does, but thinks he's too scared to tell her because of his fans."

" _Are they talking about Colby?_ " It had to be a mistake. Colby didn't like me.

"It's kind of obvious that he does. He's so gentle and cuddly with her." That definitely sounded more like Colby, and I remembered all his hugs and soft touches over the past couple of days.

" _He's just being the softie that he's always been._ " I reasoned with myself. Maybe Colby's friends were seeing it and just taking it the wrong way.

"I know, it's so sweet! I've never really seen him like that with a girl before." One of them gushed, but I couldn't really distinguish who it was.

"Do you think Y/N feels the same way about him?" Xepher questioned.

"I'm not sure..."

" _Do I feel for him in that way?_ " Apparently I wasn't too sure myself.

The girls went quiet, and I figured it was the time to interrupt. Pulling back the curtain, I spotted all of the girls standing at the end of the dressing room area.

Kat spotted me first, and practically screamed. "Oh my god, Y/N!"

"Does it look okay?" I asked as I shuffled on my feet self-consciously when the others glanced up at me.

"Okay?! Y/N it looks amazing on you! You should get it!" Tara reassured me as I walked over to the bigger mirror next to them to get a better look.

I bit my lip as I gazed at myself, before turning to them.

"Can I ask you girls about something?" I queried earnestly. I didn't like having to admit to eavesdropping, but I had to be sure on who they were talking about.

"Yeah, of course." Devyn confirmed with a gentle smile.

"I heard you guys talking just then-" I started, but was cut off by Kat.

"Y/N, we're sorry. We didn't mean to talk about you." She apologised as their eyes widened with guilt. I didn't really care about that as they weren't talking about me in a malicious way, plus they all seemed so genuine and trustworthy.

"No, it's okay." I told them calmly, before asking. "Were you talking about Colby?"

"Yeah..." Kat answered simply.

"Does he really like me?"

"You didn't hear it from us... But, yeah Sam seems to think so, and he knows Colby better than anyone." Kat explained.

"Plus he looked like he wanted to punch Aryia when he flirted with you at Sam's the other night!" Tara laughed.

"He was just being a little over-protective." At least that's what I thought it was.

"No, he was getting jealous." Cassie stated.

"Do you like him?" Devyn interrupted.

"I-" I thought about his kind and loving personality; his mesmerizing eyes and beautiful smile. I thought about how warm and safe his hugs made me feel. "I think so..." I answered honestly.

"What's holding you back?" Darn Kat and her intuitiveness again.

"Why would he ever go for someone like me?" I gestured to myself, and while Devyn's, Cassie's and Xepher's faces softened in pity, Kat and Tara looked angry.

"Because you're beautiful, down-to-earth and independent." Tara stated sternly, and my eyes welled up at her kind words.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do!" Xepher cut in then. "We're going to find you some killer-ass heels to go with that dress..." She pointed at what I was wearing, before continuing. "... And then later we'll go back to mine so Devyn and I can do your make-up for the party."

"You're going to be the hottest, god damn bitch in that club tonight! It won't be just Aryia that Colby will be trying to scare off!" Tara giggled.

"I don't know... This stuff isn't really me." I told them, feeling uncertain. I liked getting dressed up as much as the next girl, but the most I usually did with make-up back home was some mascara and foundation to cover any spots.

"That's okay! You can pick out your shoes and make-up." Xepher responded comfortingly.

"What kind of things do you think Colby will like?" I asked them.

"No, this isn't for him. It's for you!" Kat corrected me gently. "You're gorgeous both inside and out. We just want to help you realise that."

"Thanks guys..." My eyes were definitely filling up with tears now.

"Aw, sweetie..." Devyn stepped up to me and gave me a brief hug which I returned.

"So are you going to get it?" Cassie questioned, motioning to the dress. Glancing back at myself in the mirror, and decided that I could just dip in to the savings I had kept aside for travelling if needed.

"Yeah, why not?" I smiled.

"That's the spirit!" Kat cheered, making us all laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought of this chapter! :)


	23. Life of the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of the night that might just change everything....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Mentions of alcohol abuse and implied/referenced talk of a previous abusive relationship. Underage drinking (only because Kat and Tara aren’t 21 in this story, but take drinks offered by a friend.). Cursing.

**Colby’s POV**

“Kat and Y/N are already at the party with the girls.” Sam told me as I turned off and unplugged my ring light. Jake had already gone back to his apartment to get ready for the party, but Sam had stayed to help me clear up my filming stuff.

“Okay…” I replied with a tired groan which made Sam look up from his phone.

“You alright man?” He questioned worriedly.

“Today was a lot… I don’t feel like partying anymore but… Y/N is there so…” I told him vaguely. As much I didn’t want to go to the party, I wouldn’t be a very good host if I left her at a party that I had asked her to go to.

“Don’t go if you don’t want to, dude. The others and I will keep her company.” Sam suggested, but I still shook my head.

“No, I don’t want her thinking anything is wrong. I want her to enjoy tonight, but she’ll only worry if I don’t go.” I explained.

“Is this about Jake’s video?” He asked.

“Yesterday was so perfect until we came home. I was going to tell her how I really feel about her, Sam…” I admitted. Sam’s eyes brightened momentarily.

“You were?” He queried excitedly.

“Yeah… But today just reminded me of why I can’t.”

“Colby if you really like her, then you should tell her!” He exclaimed, and I couldn’t help but scoff because he would never understand. Most of the fans adored Kat right from the start, sure there were some jealous comments but they weren’t even half as bad as the stuff I see when I get seen with a girl.

“Come on… We need to get ready for the party.” I brushed him off as I turned to go into my bedroom.

“Colby!” I heard him call after me.

“Not now, dude. The girls are waiting for us, and we’re late enough as it is.” I said over my shoulder.

“Fine! But we’re talking about this tomorrow, bro!” I moaned at his words, because Sam won’t forget. I appreciated that he was just trying to look out for me, but it wasn’t a conversation that I was looking forward too.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Reader’s POV**

“Can anyone see the guys?” Tara asked as we got into the club. I wasn’t surprised by the size of the sea of people in front of me as it was exactly what I expected from a Hollywood party. I scanned the crowd, looking for Sam, Colby or Jake but couldn’t see them anywhere.

“Sam just texted saying they’ve just wrapped up with filming so they won’t be here for another hour or so.” Kat stated from behind me.

“Come on! Let’s go dance while we wait!” Cassie exclaimed, and I trailed after them down the few steps to the dancefloor.

I didn’t like the feel of the many bodies crammed into such a small size as it brought back bad memories. After all the last time I had been in a club like this… Well I had probably been black out drunk and clinging to my ex like he was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

I laughed inwardly at the thought, wondering what I ever even saw in him. He was never nice; always spoke down to me and never really treated me like his girlfriend. I just wished that it hadn’t cost me so much to realise that I was just a game to him... Just another sweet girl for him to ruin.

I was yanked out of my thoughts by a hand on my waist, and a voice speaking lowly in my ear.

“Hey sweetheart…” I startled and spun around at the words, only to come face to face with Brennen. There was an easy grin on his face and lust in his eyes, all of which dimmed instantly like water dumped over a flame when he realised just who he was no doubt trying to hit on. “Oh... Shit...” He cursed quietly under his breath.

“Hey Brennen.” I responded coolly with a forced smile, because Colby’s close friend or not... He wasn’t making a very good second impression.

“Ahhh, listen… That was my bad. Could you maybe not tell Colby about what just happened?” He asked, his voice dripping with desperation. I stared at him for a moment. “Please?” He begged.

“I’m sure he knows what type of guy you are.” I felt kind of bad for making assumptions about him, because he must have some redeeming qualities if Colby sees something in him. However, he was the one that initiated this awful interaction, and I wasn’t about to let him off scot free.

“He does… But if he finds out I tried to hit on you he’ll have my ass!” I thought his reaction was a little extreme, but maybe not as I recalled what the girls had said earlier today about Colby’s jealousy towards Aryia. It seems like everyone apart from myself has noticed Colby’s feelings towards me, including Brennen.

However, my smile grew into a mischievous grin when I realised that I could Brennen’s plea to my advantage.

“How about you buy us a round of drinks and I’ll forget the whole thing.” I offered, motioning to the girls behind me who I realised had been watching the whole exchange silently.

“Yeah. Yeah! That sounds good!” Brennen nodded his head eagerly. “What can I get you ladies?” He took our orders before striding away quickly, and I wondered if he’ll just disappear for the rest of the night.

I turned back to face the girls, hoping that they won’t think that I’m a bitch for how I acted towards Brennen. However, I was only met with smiles and excitement.

“Y/N, that was bad ass!” Kat exclaimed.

“I’ve never seen anyone make Brennen Taylor squirm like that before.” Tara laughed.

“It’s only because she’s not hanging off of him like all of the L.A. party girls.” Xepher added, and I could hear the distain in her voice.

“ _Yeah… These girls are definitely my type of people_.” I mused, before asking “do you guys not like him either?”

“We tolerate him I guess, but he’s a bit of an ass...” I was surprised that the comment came from _sweet, quiet_ Devyn, and it made me giggle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One hour later and Brennen had yet to return with our drinks, although I’m not surprised. I still wasn’t going to mention what happened to Colby, because honestly I just wanted to put the whole encounter behind me and forget about it.

“Sammy!” I turned to look at Kat at the yell, and saw that she was rushing over to Sam, Colby, Jake and Kevin.

“Hey babe!” Sam greeted her, wrapping an arm around her waist and giving her a quick kiss. I smiled at how cute they were together. Having spent some more time with Kat today, I had realised that they were literally a perfect fit.

“Fashionably late as usual guys!” Tara joked.

“It was Colby’s fault… Like always.” Jake whined.

“Hey! We were waiting for you this time!” Colby argued back.

“I think I remember that it was your door we were banging on twenty minutes ago, bro.” Sam said to Colby with a roll of his eyes.

“Whatever… It’s a party, not a business meeting.” Colby groaned, and I frowned when I noticed that there was some snap behind the words. It wasn’t like Colby, but I figured that he was still probably feeling down from this morning.

“Anyway… Where’s Y/N?” The question confused me, “ _hasn’t he realised that I’m standing right here?”_

“Right here, dummy!” I made myself known, realising I probably did look a lot different in my new dress and with makeup on after all. Colby’s eyes focused on me before he froze, his bottom jaw dropping open as he took in the sight of me.

I shifted nervously at the attention, and glanced to my right at Xepher who looked between Colby and I with a smile on her face, before raising her eyebrows at me.

“Colby, you’re catching flies dude.” Jake interrupted, and Tara swatted at his arm. Jake’s attempt to cut the tension only seemed to embarrass Colby and make him go all shy which I found adorable.

“Oh, um…. H-hi Y/N!” He stuttered as he tried to recover.

“Hey.” I replied softly, and tried to give him a reassuring look.

“Dang, you girls are looking hot tonight!” Kevin exclaimed.

“Don’t we always look hot?” Xepher deadpanned, but I could tell that she was only teasing him.

“No- Yes! I mean yes! Of course you do! Uhhh…” Kevin defended, stumbling over his words. He glanced around nervously, before his eyes brightened when he noticed Corey standing by the bar. “Corey, hi!” He yelled, going over to Corey and leaving the rest of us chuckling behind him.

“What did you girls do today?” Sam asked.

“A bit of shopping, but mostly just hanging out in town.” Cassie replied.

“I’ll get us some drinks, what does everyone want?” Colby stated. Sam and Jake accepted, while the girls politely declined.

He then directed his attention towards me. “Do you want anything, Y/N?”

“Yeah please, I’ll have a beer! I don’t mind what kind.” I replied with a small smile.

“I’ll give you a hand, bro.” Sam said, clapping Colby on the back as he went to follow after him.

Colby came to stand next to me when he returned with our drinks 5 minutes later, handing me a bottle of Bud Light.

“I’m going to step out for some air… You want to come with?” I found it odd that he needed air when he’d only been here for about 20 minutes, but I agreed to go with him anyway.

“We’re going to step out for a minute.” He told the group as he slipped by Sam, heading towards the back of the club.

Trailing after Colby, we stepped out of some large glass doors into what looked like a beer garden area. There was a water fountain in the middle and tables and chairs spotted around the yard; with fairy lights roped across and attached to trees on either side. I had to admit that the fresh air made me feel a lot better, and the area was a lot less busy as it was only occupied by two couples and a group of girls who were sitting in the back corner.

Colby led me over to one of the benches, and I sat down next to him.

I watched him as he scanned the yard first with a weary look on his face before he turned towards me.

“How was your day?” He asked me quietly.

“Really good! I had a lot of fun with the girls!”

“That’s good!” He beamed with a little too much enthusiasm, and I could tell something was playing on his mind.

“What about you? How did filming go?” I questioned carefully.

He let out a breath and slumped down into himself. “It… Was stressful, but we got through it…” He then took a big swig of his drink.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I offered supportively.

“Not tonight.” He replied, shaking his head.

“Well, I’m here if you ever need too.” He gave me a gentle look, before his arm came up and lay over my shoulders.

He thanked me softly. “You look beautiful tonight.” The compliment came out of the blue, but had me blushing immediately.

“Thank you! You don’t look so bad yourself…” Looking down at his black denim jacket, navy shirt and ripped jeans. I noticed that his shirt was mostly unbuttoned, and saw the chain necklace around his neck and his chest tattoo peeking out. I had to look away before I started drooling.

Colby opened his mouth, going to say something else but was interrupted by someone calling my name.

Shifting to look behind us, I saw Brennen heading our way.

“Your drink, milady!” I inwardly cringed at the forced kindness in his tone. He slammed a drink down on the low table in front of me, some of it spilling over the side at the force. My eyes narrowed at him when I realised that he had slammed the drink down on purpose.

Brennen looked up, and his face fell when he noticed that it was Colby sitting next to me. I assumed that he thought that it was one of the girls instead.

“Oh Colby! Hey, brother!” Seeing the look on his face as his eyes locked with Colby’s gave me a bit of satisfaction.

“Hey man.” My own eyes snapped back to Colby when he answered back curtly. The arm around my shoulders tightened for a moment before loosening again.

“How have you been, dude?” Brennen questioned, his hand coming up to rub at the back of his head awkwardly.

“Oh you know… YouTube stuff.” Again Colby’s response was short, and I searched his face trying to see if anything was wrong.

“Right… I know that feeling.” Brennen tried to joke, but it fell flat when Colby didn’t react.

“Hey can I talk to you about a video idea for a moment?” Colby addressed Brennen as he took his arm off me and stood up.

“Yeah! Yeah… Uh, sure bro.” Brennen nodded, biting at his lip.

“I’ll come find you in a bit, okay?” Colby said to me.

“Okay, I’ll go back to the others.” I informed him, also rising to my feet after grabbing my beer and the drink Brennen got me.

Returning back inside, I weaved my way through the crowd to where we were standing before. However Colby’s friends were no longer there, but it didn’t take me long to spot some of them sitting at a table. Kat waved me over when she saw me heading towards them.

“Where’s Colby?” She asked me as I sat in an empty chair next to her.

“He’s talking to Brennen outside.” I replied.

“Did you speak to Colby about…?” She started but trailed off when she saw Jake looking at us from across the table.

“No, Brennen interrupted us.” I sighed.

“Fucking Brennen…” I laughed at her cursing.

“What’s happening?” Jake questioned over the table.

“Nothing… Girl stuff...” Kat brushed him off, but gave Tara a look when she also glanced our way.

We were distracted by Sam who joined us, setting a tray of shots onto the table.

“We’re doing shots, Y/N, wanna join?” He asked when he noticed me sitting there.

“Yeah, okay!” Leaning forward to grab a shot, I hoped that I wasn’t making a huge mistake by doing this as while I may be coping fine with beers and cider; hard liqueur and spirits were different… Scarier…

It burned when I downed it and I ended up coughing and sputtering.

“Ayeee, Y/N’s a lightweight!” Sam poked fun with a grin, and I tried to laugh it off.

“ _If only they knew…_ ” I thought, glancing away and towards where I had come from, hoping Colby will return soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought of this chapter, and if there's anything you want to see later on in the story! :) <3


End file.
